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Archived Comments for: Prevalence and determinants of adolescent tobacco smoking in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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  1. A focused strategy is for needed for adolescent tobacco smoking in Ethiopia

    N Malangu, University of Limpopo

    18 September 2007

    The paper by Rudatsikira et al. (2007) reported that factors associated with smoking were the male gender, having friends and parents who smoke; and that perceiving smoking as harmful had a protective effect. They concluded correctly that smoking among Ethiopian adolescents was lower than in other African countries. It is important to mention that in a South African study, having a sister who smoke, and attending school in the inner-city were also strongly and significantly associated with smoking in a group of learners in Pretoria; while being a White male was associated with more than a three-fold increase in smoking (Mokonoto and Naidoo, 2006). Therefore, in order to develop and implement focused interventions, a detailed subgroup analysis is warranted on the data presented. This will help in pinpointing the subgroups that could benefit from anti-tobacco messages as suggested by the authors; as well as from other educational, managerial, and regulatory interventions.

    References

    Rudatsikira E, Abdo A, Muula AS. Prevalence and determinants of adolescent tobacco smoking in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. BMC Public Health 2007, 7:176.

    Mokonoto MD and Naidoo S. Predictors of smoking practice among High School learners. JCHS October 2006, 1(2): 1-9

    Competing interests

    None

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