ABSTRACT
Background: As per the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) rules, the anti-tobacco health spots and disclaimers are being provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India. These advertisements are aimed at creating awareness about the ill effects of tobacco use. Mass media anti-tobacco advertising campaigns play an important role as part of a comprehensive tobacco control program and are associated with increase in smoking cessation and declines in adult tobacco use prevalence.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the influence of anti-tobacco advertisements among slum dwellers of Mandya city. A self-structured, close-ended questionnaire was used to interview 700 slum dwellers. The questionnaire consisted of sociodemographic data, tobacco usage status, questions related to awareness about anti-tobacco advertisements, and influence of anti-tobacco advertisements on attitude toward tobacco use. Frequency distributions and percentages were examined for each item and Chi-square test was used.Results: Out of 700 participants 54.5% were males and 45.5% were females. Nearly 87.7% of males and 70.2% of females had noticed the statutory warning which is shown during tobacco products’ usage on television/movies. Almost 66.4% of males and 68.0% of females had a positive change in attitude toward tobacco use due to influence of anti-tobacco advertisements.Conclusions: There is awareness against use of tobacco and this awareness should be used to motivate them to quit tobacco as well as to stop them from initiating tobacco use.
ABSTRACT
Background: Rabies is acute, progressive encephalitis caused by a lyssavirus. Over 95% of rabies deaths in humans result from virus transmission through the bites of infected dogs. To provide Post Exposure Prophylaxis to the people, Anti Rabies Clinics have been established in many places, especially at tertiary care centres. The Anti-Rabies Clinic at Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences, Mandya, Karnataka state (ARC-MIMS) is one such centre, the first of its kind in Karnataka state more than ten years ago. We are presenting the clinical profile of the animal bite victims who sought treatment at our centre in the past 10 years.Methods: It was a retrospective record based study conducted at Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences with sample size of 44087 using purposive sampling from May 2018 to June 2018 and data was collected using data extraction sheet.Results: Among the 44087 animal bite victims majority i.e., 66.6% were males, most of them were in the age group of 16-60 years. Sixty percent of the animal bite victims were residing in rural areas. All the category 2 and category 3 bite victims were administered anti rabies vaccination and 15.4% of the category 3 bite victims were administered rabies immunoglobulin.Conclusions: Majority of animal bite victims were presented and treated within 1 day. The practice of giving health education periodically to the school children and making phone calls to remind follow up days which is being practiced should be promoted.