| Summary: | Background and challenges to implementation
Cigarettes
and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003 is a robust tobacco control act of
India. However, with the presence of bureaucratic system, the general public
does not have an effective tool to report tobacco control violations or acquire
support to practice tobacco control in their lives or that of the community. Also
there was no system in place which could provide real time field based on which
the Public Health Care could investigate and advocate for policy change.
Intervention or response
In
order the fill the gap between the General Public and the Government; and to
also provide field based evidences to the Government; Mary Anne Charity Trust
(MACT) developed the android based mobile application called Tobacco Monitor. It
is an open source mobile application wherein a person can acquire information
about the latest happenings related to tobacco eradications, regulations and
cessation and also give complaints on tobacco related violations.
Any
request for support or complaint is processed by the Tobacco Monitor Team.sent to the concerned Government Authority.
Results and lessons learnt
· More
than 500 individuals across 13 states of India are using this app
· Reviewed
complaints have been reported to the respective government. The State
Government of Tamil Nadu and Punjab have considered the complaints reported and
directed the district authorities to take action on the complaints.
· Used
as an awareness tool for sensitizing public about the types of violations
related to tobacco
The
app works well in urban cities where there is a presence of Internet Services.
The time taken to decentralize information is largely reduced. It is a success
among the young adults since the process of reporting becomes easier. The
complaints ensure that real time issue are brought to the Government's view.
Conclusions and key recommendations
Tobacco
Control with the support of mobile technology becomes expedite, efficient and
effective.
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