It’s estimated that about 20% of adults who live or work indoors in Uganda are exposed to second-hand smoke. What isn’t known what percentage of tour drivers and guides suffer the same fate.
Uganda’s tobacco control law restricts smoking to designated smoking areas and there is a ban on smoking in open environment. But tour drivers and guides are still exposed to second hand smoke by their clients.
Studies have shown that exposure to second hand smoke also causes harm to one’s health.
In Uganda tour guides and drivers drive clients for a long distances to up- country destinations without enough breaks to allow outdoor smoking.
Tour drivers are part of a bigger group of hospitality workers who tend to have high prevalence of secondhand smoke. Some studies have suggested standards of designated smoking areas to ensure the required air quality standards.
But, these standards cannot be met in tour vehicles. In addition the prevalence and attitude towards e-cigarettes imported by tourists is not well documented.
Lawrence Tubenawe wants to assess the factors associated with second hand smoking and the prevalence of exposure to e-cigarettes among tour drivers and guides.
Tubenawe is a researcher in the School of Public Health at Makerere University.
The study he plans to undertake will measure the extent to which tour guides and drivers are being exposed to the effects of second hand smoke.
He also hopes it will provide knowledge for the best intervention and policy guidelines.
“I want to contribute to the knowledge around tobacco use in Uganda and design measures to reduce chronic diseases due to this risk factor especially among at most risk groups which are highly exposed, ” Tubenawe said.
He will use random sampling to select eligible participants. This will include tour drivers between the ages of 18 and 60 years and guides. It will exclude tour drivers and guides who are smokers themselves.
Tubenawe is optimistic that the work undertaken will make a case to suggest creation of 100% smoke-free environments for provision of effective protection from health risks of exposure to tobacco smoke among high risk groups.