Public awareness of and support for smoke-free legislation in Turkey: a national survey using the lot quality sampling technique

Six months after new legislation in Turkey banning smoking In all public places, a national survey was carried out to assess its implementation. This paper summarizes the main findings on the public's awareness of and support for the new law. In a household interview survey of 32 972 adults representative of the Turkish adult population, a high proportion of both non-smokers and current smokers [91.4% and 67.2% respectively] strongly supported the new law. Knowledge about the health hazards of passive smoking and support for the law, however, were relatively lower among smokers than non-smokers. After controlling for smoking status, people with better knowledge about passive smoking were over 5 times more likely to support the new law. Tobacco control activities should be tailored to local needs, with a focus on increasing awareness about the health hazards of passive smoking. The study also demonstrated application of the lot quality sampling technique [LQT] for monitoring tobacco control activities in a national survey

Hepatitis B prevalence among workers in Turkey at low risk for hepatitis B exposure

Turkey is an intermediate endemic area for hepatitis B virus infection. The study investigated the hepatitis B exposure risk and prevalence of hepatitis B infection in a group of workers of no known occupational exposure. The prevalence of seropositivity for hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg], hepatitis B surface antibody [anti- HBs] and hepatitis B core antibody [anti- HBc] were 6.6%, 29.9%, and 50.6% respectively. Hepatitis B infection rates were also high in the families of HBsAg- positive workers; 73.7% of family members were positive for HBsAg, anti- HBs or anti- HBc. Risk factors included ever having an injection by an unqualified practitioner [14.6%] and ever having unprotected extramarital intercourse [62.5%]