THE Health Department started a nationwide survey of tobacco use among medical students last week.

Dr Nyo Nyo Kyaing, the manager of the department’s Tobacco Free Initiatives project, told Myanmar Times last month that the aim of the survey was to find out how prevalent tobacco use was among medical students, and to determine the extent of their knowledge about the health effects of smoking.

Data gathered during the survey would be used to make healthcare professionals more proactive in minimising the problems caused by tobacco addiction and consumption, and by exposure to tobacco smoke, she said.

She said the survey – which will be funded by the World Health Organisation, the US Health Department’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Canadian Public Health Association – would be conducted among nearly 3000 students in their third year at four medical colleges, two pharmaceutical universities and two dental colleges in Yangon, Mandalay and Magwe.

The survey report is expected to be released in June, she said.

Healthcare professionals come into contact with a big percentage of the population and could be instrumental in helping people change their behaviour, Dr Nyo Nyo Kyaing said.

Healthcare professionals who smoked also needed to set an example by giving up the habit, she added.

This was underlined by a statement released by WHO last May that cited studies showing that even brief advice from healthcare professionals can increase abstinence rates by up to 30 per cent.

However, data from a survey conducted by the Tobacco Free Initiative project, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and WHO showed that a more systematic approach, starting with training, was needed to involve healthcare professionals in campaigns against smoking, said Dr Nyo Nyo Kyaing.

“It’s important for schools, public health organisations and education officials to work together to provide healthcare professionals with the tools to reduce tobacco use among their patients,” she said.

Dr Nyo Nyo Kyaing said a survey of 243 doctors in Myanmar, conducted by the project and WHO in 2003, found that 20 per cent of male doctors and two per cent of female doctors used tobacco products.

The survey found that the percentage of doctors who used tobacco products had not declined significantly in the 10 years to 2003. Another finding was that female doctors devoted more time to providing health education on tobacco use to patients than male doctors.

“Smoking prevalence among healthcare professionals is itself often a barrier to their involvement in tobacco control,” Dr Nyo Nyo Kyaing said.

However, a 2004 survey found that the prevalence of tobacco use among doctors was much lower than in the general population, in which 32 per cent of men aged above 15 and 25 per cent of women in the same age group were tobacco users, she said.

She said the Ministry of Health was working hard to reduce tobacco related health problems, in line with the theme for World No Tobacco Day 2005, “Health professionals against tobacco”.

“This year’s slogan highlights the crucial role of healthcare professionals in the area of tobacco control at the household level as well as the national level,” said Dr Nyo Nyo Kyaing.

First held in 1988, the WHO-sponsored World No Tobacco Day is observed annually on May 31.