State-Level Point-of-Sale Tobacco News Coverage and Policy Progression Over a 2-Year Period

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison E. Myers ◽  
Brian G. Southwell ◽  
Kurt M. Ribisl ◽  
Sarah Moreland-Russell ◽  
J. Michael Bowling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Control Method ◽  
Empirical Relationship ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Control Policy ◽  
State Level ◽  
Media Content ◽  
Media Advocacy ◽  
Point Of Sale ◽  
Source Use

Background. Mass media content may play an important role in policy change. However, the empirical relationship between media advocacy efforts and tobacco control policy success has rarely been studied. We examined the extent to which newspaper content characteristics (volume, slant, frame, source, use of evidence, and degree of localization) that have been identified as important in past descriptive studies were associated with policy progression over a 2-year period in the context of point-of-sale (POS) tobacco control. Method. We used regression analyses to test the relationships between newspaper content and policy progression from 2012 to 2014. The dependent variable was the level of implementation of state-level POS tobacco control policies at Time 2. Independent variables were newspaper article characteristics (volume, slant, frame, source, use of evidence, and degree of localization) and were collected via content analysis of the articles. State-level policy environment contextual variables were examined as confounders. Results. Positive, significant bivariate relationships exist between characteristics of news content (e.g., high overall volume, public health source present, local quote and local angle present, and pro–tobacco control slant present) and Time 2 POS score. However, in a multivariate model controlling for other factors, significant relationships did not hold. Discussion. Newspaper coverage can be a marker of POS policy progression. Whether media can influence policy implementation remains an important question. Future work should continue to tease out and confirm the unique characteristics of media content that are most associated with subsequent policy progression, in order to inform media advocacy efforts.

scholarly journals Implementing smokeless tobacco control policy in Pakistan: a qualitative study among Naswar supply chain actors

2020 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2020-055748
Author(s):  
Fayaz Ahmad ◽  
Melanie Boeckmann ◽  
Zohaib Khan ◽  
Hajo Zeeb ◽  
Muhammad Naseem Khan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Smokeless Tobacco ◽  
Control Policy ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Point Of Sale ◽  
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ◽  
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province

ObjectiveTo obtain insights into the perceptions of barriers and facilitators to implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) among smokeless tobacco (SLT) supply chain actors in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative study to investigate the perceptions about SLT control policy formulation and implementation among exclusive Naswar sellers and point of sale vendors. We conducted five focus group discussions in three districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa using combined deductive-inductive thematic analyses.ResultsWe identified three central themes that potentially impact policy formulation, its implementation and application. The first theme examines the role of children in the Naswar business: as potential customers, and as potential heirs to a Naswar-selling business. A second theme targets the ‘business of Naswar’, which includes a specific identity of Naswar sellers, its potential to generate profits and the special case of Naswar regulation as a socially accepted and culturally rooted product. The third theme addresses the unusual ingredients of Naswar and its production process, making Naswar a health risk for consumers and producers. We also report conflicting views regarding SLT control among the supply chain actors.ConclusionsThis study provides insights into the perceptions of important SLT supply-side stakeholders regarding various SLT control policy options based on the FCTC. While there is some opposition to policy approaches like taxation and switching of business, implementing a ban on selling SLT to minors may be a viable option for policymakers in the short term.

Promoting smoking cessation in China: a foot-in-the-door approach to tobacco control advocacy

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 41-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia Siu Chee Chan ◽  
Yee Tak Derek Cheung ◽  
David Chung Ngor Wong ◽  
Chao Qiang Jiang ◽  
Yao He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Smoking Cessation ◽  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Control Policy ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Steering Committee ◽  
Control Atmosphere ◽  
Media Advocacy ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The University

Introduction: The Chinese government’s implementation of the MPOWER policies and compliance with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control requirements has been slow. We used the ‘foot-in-the-door’ approach to promote tobacco control advocacy through capacity building of healthcare leaders, and establishment of smoking cessation clinics in Guangzhou and Beijing (two of the largest cities in China). Methods: This collaborative pilot project involved the University of Hong Kong and three major hospitals in Guangzhou and Beijing. A steering committee conducted the smoking cessation training workshops starting from April 2006, and set up three smoking cessation model clinics during August 2006 to October 2008. We followed up the trained health care professionals (HCPs) in 2014 and 2015 to assess their impacts on tobacco control beyond smoking cessation. Results: We emphasized the importance of the general tobacco control atmosphere during smoking cessation training of 139 HCPs to motivate them to engage in tobacco control advocacy. In addition to enhancing their knowledge and skills in cessation, the HCPs were then involved in the establishment of three in-hospital smoking cessation clinics and served as smoking cessation counselors since June 2008. Moreover, they ventured outside the clinics and the community to publicize smoking cessation. Their effort has contributed to smoke-free legislation, better surveillance on smoking and media advocacy on tobacco control in China. Conclusions: The training and establishment of smoking cessation clinics could serve as a means to motivate and empower HCPs who could contribute to broaden tobacco control policy in China.

scholarly journals Media advocacy, tobacco control policy change and teen smoking in Florida

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Niederdeppe ◽  
M. C Farrelly ◽  
D. Wenter
Keyword(s):  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Control Policy ◽  
Tobacco Control Policy ◽  
Media Advocacy

scholarly journals Association between tobacco prices and smoking onset: evidence from the TCP India Survey

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. s3-s8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ce Shang ◽  
Frank J Chaloupka ◽  
Prakash C Gupta ◽  
Mangesh S Pednekar ◽  
Geoffrey T Fong
Keyword(s):  
Cigarette Smoking ◽  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Tobacco Use ◽  
Control Policy ◽  
State Level ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Smoking Onset ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Discrete Time Hazard Model ◽  
Cigarette Prices

BackgroundTobacco use is prevalent among youth and adults in India. However, direct evidence on how increasing taxes or prices affect tobacco use onset is scarce.ObjectiveTo analyse the associations between cigarette and bidi prices and smoking onset in India, and how these associations differ by socioeconomic status.MethodologyThe Wave 1 of the Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation India Survey by the International Tobacco Control Project contains information on the age at smoking onset for cigarettes and bidis. Using this information, data were expanded to a yearly pseudo-panel dataset that tracked respondents at risk of smoking onset from 1998 to 2011. The associations between bidi prices and bidi smoking onset, between cigarette prices and cigarette smoking onset, and between bidi and cigarette prices and any smoking onset were examined using a discrete-time hazard model with a logit link function. Stratified analyses were conducted to examine the difference in these associations by rural versus urban division.ResultsWe found that higher bidi prices were significantly associated with a lowered hazard of bidi smoking onset (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.35 to 0.51). Higher cigarette prices were significantly (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.83 to 0.92) associated with a lowered hazard of cigarette smoking onset among urban residents, but this association was non-significant when SEs were clustered at the state level. In addition, the association between increasing bidis prices and lowered hazards of bidi smoking onset was greater for urban residents than for rural ones (p<0.01).ConclusionsUnder the new regime of a central goods and service system, policymakers may need to raise the prices of tobacco products sufficiently to curb smoking onset.

scholarly journals Needs of LMIC-based tobacco control advocates to counter tobacco industry policy interference: insights from semi-structured interviews

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. e044710
Author(s):  
Britta Katharina Matthes ◽  
Lindsay Robertson ◽  
Anna B Gilmore
Keyword(s):  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
Control Policy ◽  
Qualitative Description ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Adoption And Implementation ◽  
National Coalition ◽  
Industry Policy

IntroductionAdvocacy is vital for advancing tobacco control and there has been considerable investment in this area. While much is known about tobacco industry interference (TII), there is little research on advocates’ efforts in countering TII and what they need to succeed. We sought to examine this and focused on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where adoption and implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) tend to remain slower and weaker.MethodWe interviewed 22 advocates from eight LMICs with recent progress in a tobacco control policy. We explored participants’ experiences in countering TII, including the activities they undertake, challenges they encounter and how their efforts could be enhanced. We used Qualitative Description to analyse transcripts and validated findings through participant feedback.ResultsWe identified four main areas of countering activities: (1) generating and compiling data and evidence, (2) accessing policymakers and restricting industry access, (3) working with media and (4) engaging in a national coalition. Each area was linked to challenges, including (1) lack of data, (2) no/weak implementation of FCTC Article 5.3, (3) industry ties with media professionals and (4) advocates’ limited capacity. To address these challenges, participants suggested initiatives, including access to country-specific data, building advocates’ skills in compiling and using such data in research and monitoring, and in coalition development; others aiming at training journalists to question and investigate TII; and finally, diverse interventions intended to advance a whole-of-government approach to tobacco control. Structural changes to tobacco control funding and coordination were suggested to facilitate the proposed measures.ConclusionThis research highlights that following years of investment in tobacco control in LMICs, there is growing confidence in addressing TII. We identify straightforward initiatives that could strengthen such efforts. This research also underscores that more structural changes to enhance tobacco control capacity building should be considered.

scholarly journals Improving Energy Efficiency Fairness of Wireless Networks: A Deep Learning Approach

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 4300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoon Lee ◽  
Han Seung Jang ◽  
Bang Chul Jung
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Wireless Networks ◽  
Deep Learning ◽  
Power Control ◽  
Control Method ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Control Policy ◽  
Maximization Problem ◽  
Optimization Approach ◽  
Conventional Optimization

Achieving energy efficiency (EE) fairness among heterogeneous mobile devices will become a crucial issue in future wireless networks. This paper investigates a deep learning (DL) approach for improving EE fairness performance in interference channels (IFCs) where multiple transmitters simultaneously convey data to their corresponding receivers. To improve the EE fairness, we aim to maximize the minimum EE among multiple transmitter–receiver pairs by optimizing the transmit power levels. Due to fractional and max-min formulation, the problem is shown to be non-convex, and, thus, it is difficult to identify the optimal power control policy. Although the EE fairness maximization problem has been recently addressed by the successive convex approximation framework, it requires intensive computations for iterative optimizations and suffers from the sub-optimality incurred by the non-convexity. To tackle these issues, we propose a deep neural network (DNN) where the procedure of optimal solution calculation, which is unknown in general, is accurately approximated by well-designed DNNs. The target of the DNN is to yield an efficient power control solution for the EE fairness maximization problem by accepting the channel state information as an input feature. An unsupervised training algorithm is presented where the DNN learns an effective mapping from the channel to the EE maximizing power control strategy by itself. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed DNN-based power control method performs better than a conventional optimization approach with much-reduced execution time. This work opens a new possibility of using DL as an alternative optimization tool for the EE maximizing design of the next-generation wireless networks.

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