[A nationwide survey for implementation of Health Japan 21 anti-smoking countermeasures in municipalities throughout Japan].

PURPOSE: Smoking cessation is one of the most important items for improvement of health in Japan. The Japanese government started a new campaign called the "Health Japan 21" to promote better health of Japanese citizens in the 21st century. The purpose of the present study was to observe the situation of the municipalities throughout Japan regarding implementation of anti-smoking countermeasures and setting of the level of target values to be achieved over the next ten years. METHODS: Mail questionnaire forms were sent to 953 municipalities which had formulated specific local plans for the promotion of health. Of this total, 793 (83.2%) responded to the inquiry. RESULTS: The most commonly implemented countermeasure against smoking was restricting smoking only to limited areas in municipality offices (75%), followed by providing support for stopping smoking (35%), and providing a complete smoke free environment in municipality offices (32.4%). Proportions of local governments putting a ban on smoking on public roads (7.5%), giving publicity to restaurants with smoking restrictions (< 5%) and setting no smoking times in the municipality offices (< 5%) were low. Some 70% of municipalities provided anti-smoking education for school children. Very few local governments took measures such as identifying age at purchasing tobacco, removing vending machines and restricting tobacco advertisement. CONCLUSION: Most municipalities have made much of anti-smoking activities. However, measures for school children were not satisfactorily implemented. The execution rates for anti-smoking activities are low in small-scale municipalities and therefore it is necessary to provide particular support in these cases.

[A nationwide survey for implementation of health Japan 21 dental health promotion programs in local municipalities].

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to access the present situation regarding implementation of dental health promotion activities of Health Japan 21 in municipalities. METHODS: Of 1,446 local municipalities that had established local plans for the Health Japan 21 project in 2003, 953 were eligible because these had not been consolidated nor were plan had for consolidation by March 2006. A questionnaire form was mailed to the municipalities in July 2005 with items for assessment of the present status, setting goals for the project, and expectations regarding accomplishment of the local project for Health Japan 21. RESULTS: A total of 788 local municipalities responded by September 2005 (response rate 82.7%). Of them, 638 had already finished development of the local plan. As to the present status, 94% covered dental caries screening for 3 year old children. In contrast, only 25% included screening for adult paradentitis. Two thirds of municipalities set goals for dental health of 3 year old children. However, only had set any goal for the participation rate with regard to periodic dental examinations for school children (6.8%) or the prevalence of advanced paradentitis (16.3%). Proportions of municipalities that expected difficulty in accomplishing the goals were 10.1% for dental caries prevention for 3 year old children, and 30.1% for facilitation of use of dental and periodontal care equipment. CONCLUSIONS: This nationwide survey revealed dental health programs in municipalities to be relatively well implemented for dental caries prevention, but with low rates for adoption and implementation of the periodontal disease prevention program of Health Japan 21.

Implementation of a smoke-free policy on school premises and tobacco control as a priority among municipal health promotion activities: nationwide survey in Japan.

We conducted a nationwide survey to evaluate the effect of implementing a smoke-free policy in municipalities that forbid teachers to smoke on school premises. Questionnaires were mailed to 3207 municipalities throughout Japan. After we adjusted for population size and the standardized mortality ratio for male lung cancer, we found that assigning a high priority to tobacco control in municipal health promotion activities was significantly associated with implementation of school tobacco-control policies (odds ratio = 1.50, 95% confidence interval=1.24, 1.81).

[A nationwide survey of municipalities' policy for smoking control and its implementation in relation to its priority grading by public health officers].

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the present situation regarding implementation of smoking control programs and to clarify relations with public health officers' attitudes toward smoking control measures. METHODS: A questionnaire form was mailed to the 3,207 local municipalities throughout Japan. The items included in the form were the contents of the smoking control programs, educational activities for passive smoking prevention, interaction with the media to spread education and awareness, and public health officers' attitudes toward smoking control measures. RESULTS: Of 3,207 municipalities, 2,570 (80.1%) responded. Over 95% of local municipalities were undertaking smoking control programs. Among the programs carried out in practice, dividing areas into smoking and non-smoking sections in local government office buildings had the highest proportion of support (80%). On the other hand, complete prohibition of smoking in local government office buildings and non-smoking support programs were conducted by less than 20%. The dissemination of education activities were executed in 60 percent of government office buildings, and 36% of schools, but only 20% of athletic gyms, hospitals, and other facilities. Sixty percent of public health officers recognized the importance of smoking control programs. A non-smoking support program and complete prohibition of smoking in government office buildings were more likely to be executed in for local municipalities with a higher priority for smoking control programs. No significant association was found between attitudes regarding program importance and the division of areas into smoking and non-smoking sections in government office buildings. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that promotion of smoking control measures in local municipalities may be dependent on the public health officers' attitude toward the issues. High priority should be given to assisting public health officials and other key personnel in recognizing the importance of implementing smoking control measures for attaining better health.