2020 Volume 69 Issue 2 Pages 130-137
Objectives: To examine the response of the Public Health Centers (PHCs) to the revised Health Promotion Act (the smoke-free legislation) in Japan, as of July 2019, a survey was carried out.
Methods: Out of 472 PHCs, 328 self-administered questionnaires were returned by e-mail. (response rate: 69.5%)
Results: It was found that 67.8% of PHCs that are supposed to provide smoke-free environments in both indoor and outdoor places, do not have any designated smoking spaces. In 2018, 68.9% of PHCs have conducted programs to prevent the initiation of tobacco use among school children. The rate has declined compared to that of the 2008 survey where 30.2% and 60.7% of the PHCs have collected information on the implementation of a smoke-free policy and distributed the smoking cessation programs in medical facilities in 2018, respectively. These rates have declined compared to those of the 2008 survey. The rate of PHCs indicating that their public health division was responsible for promoting a smoke-free policy for public places and restaurants, was 63.4% and 47.0%, respectively. However, 9.5% of PHCs showed that they were not responsible for the public places and 30.5% have not yet determined which division was responsible for the restaurants.
Conclusions: Further investigation needs to be done to promote the response of PHCs to the revised Health Promotion Act.
