ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of tobacco control interventions among employees in centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) in Hebei Province. Methods Tobacoo control interventions, including health education, Quit and Win competition, and founding smokeless CDC, were carried out in CDC system in Hebei Province from May 2006 to June 2008. Surveys on smoking rate of employees and on average cigarette quantity consumed by male employee smokers were conducted at the beginning and the end of the interventions. Results In 2006, 9 931 employees in 174 centers at provincial, city, county level in Hebei Province participated in this study. The overall smoking rate was 25.69%. Male employees had a higher smoking rate (51.28%) than the females (0.68%). The smoking rate of male employees was 50.92%, 49.48% and 51.72% for provincial, city and county CDC levels, respectively. The average cigarettes consumed by one smoker in one day were 15.0. In 2008, 9 139 employees in 189 centers participated in this study. The overall current smoking rate was 25.07%. The smoking rate was 52.26% and 0.43% for males and females, respectively. The smoking rates of male employees in provincial and city CDCs were 43.93% and 46.18%, significantly lower than those in 2006. The smoking rate of male employees in county CDCs was 53.98%, much higher than that in 2006. The average cigarettes consumed by one smoker in one day in 2008 were 12.4, significantly less than that in 2006. The current smoking rate of male employees in smokeless CDCs was 48.0% , significantly lower than 56.9% in non smokeless CDCs. Conclusion Male employees in Hebei Province CDC system had a high smoking rate. Tobacco control interventions play a role in reducing smoking rate and cigarettes consumption.