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Background & objectives: The World Health Organization (WHO) document released on the World No Tobacco Day, 2020, mentions that tobacco kills over 22,000 people worldwide every day either from its use or second-hand smoke exposure, which is one person every 4 sec. In 2003, the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) was enacted by the Indian government to control/regulate use of tobacco and tobacco products. Despite various amendments to this law, there has not been any appreciable decrease in tobacco use. The objective of this study was to assess the compliance level with sections 4-10 of COTPA in urban Puducherry in South India. Methods: Random sample survey of 13 wards was carried out in selected parts of the city of Puducherry. The estimated sample size was minimum 160 public places and point of sales (PoS) each. A pre-tested checklist was used to obtain information on compliance with COTPA. Statistical and spatial analysis was performed using STATA v12.0 and QGIS v2.14.21, respectively. Results: Eight per cent of public places, 0 per cent of PoS, 1.7 per cent of educational institutions and 48 per cent of tobacco packages were found compliant with COTPA specifications. The compliance in public places varied from 0 (bus stops) to 55 per cent (religious places). Interpretation & conclusions: The overall compliance with COTPA was found to be very low in urban Puducherry. In order to ensure proper implementation of the laws, effective enforcement with periodic monitoring of various sections of COTPA are needed.
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Introduction: Knowledge on epidemiology of the disease in the contemporary world will help to develop appropriate strategies to curtail the transmission during an outbreak. This study was carried out during an outbreak of conjunctivitis in selected areas of Puducherry, South India, to assess the attack rate of conjunctivitis, identify factors associated with developing conjunctivitis and calculate household secondary attack rate (HSAR) of conjunctivitis and its correlates. Methodology: During December 2014, a community‑based survey was conducted in a selected urban and rural area in Puducherry, South India. Simple random sampling was used to select primary sampling units and systematic sampling to select households. All individuals in the selected households were studied. A questionnaire was used to obtain data on sociodemographic characteristics, conjunctivitis during September–November, 2014, and number of household contacts who developed conjunctivitis within 7 days of index case. The attack rate and HSAR of conjunctivitis was expressed as percentage. Multivariate logistic regression was used to find factors independently associated with developing conjunctivitis and also 100% HSAR. Results: Of 3193 study participants from 772 households, 509 (15.9%, 95% confidence interval 14.7–17.2%) had an attack of conjunctivitis during the reference period. Of the 772 households, 218 (28.2%) had at least one case of conjunctivitis. Of 218 households, 33 (15.1%) households had 100% HSAR. Lower age, not being unemployed, low socioeconomic status, and residing in rural area were independently associated with developing conjunctivitis. Index case being male and living in a household with ≥5 members were independently associated with 100% HSAR. Conclusion: In the outbreak under study, more than one‑fourth of households had at least one case of conjunctivitis and about one in every six individuals had an attack of conjunctivitis.
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Background: Correct wound management and vaccination following animal bite prerequisite for prevention of rabies. Objective: To find out knowledge and practice about the correct wound management and vaccination following animal bite among the individuals in a selected urban area of Pondicherry. Methods: This explorative study was conducted in the field practice area of a tertiary care institution in urban Pondicherry. A total of 156 individuals one each from 156 households were selected and included after obtaining verbal informed consent. Using a pretested semi structured questionnaire, we obtained information on knowledge about wound care following animal bite and vaccination against rabies, and details of animal bite to any household members anytime in the past. Results: Only 19% of the respondents could name “Rabies” as the cause of death following animal bite. All the respondents had known about immediate initiation of anti-rabies vaccine following animal bite and its free availability in government hospitals. However, only one third of the respondents were aware of immediate washing of wound with soap and water following animal bite. The last one year incidence of animal bite was found to be 0.87% (6/682). Majority of the animal bite cases belonged to Class II (58%) and, involved dogs (88%), males (79.2%) and people from low socio-economic status (96%). All the individuals with animal bites had initiated anti-rabies vaccine within 24 hours of bite, however only two third had washed their wound with soap and water immediately following animal bite. About 17% of the animal bite victims had applied oil or turmeric over the wound. Conclusions: Incorrect immediate wound care following animal bite is a concern for prevention of rabies in this area. Health education should be strengthened on certain aspects like disease causation, wound care following animal bite and before coming in contact with a health facility to this population.