International Journal of Preventive Medicine (Int J Prev Med)2008-7802132017091018181818ENEIS Cell, Epidemiology Division, National Centre for Disease Control, New DelhiNational Tobacco Control Program, Directorate General Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New DelhiNon communicable diseases division, Regional Offce for South‑East Asia, World Health Organization, New Delhi20170910<p><span class="fontstyle0">Background: </span><span class="fontstyle2">Tobacco use is leading preventable cause of premature deaths. Sales of tobacco products within 100 yards of educational institutions (EIs) in India are restricted under Section 6 of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003. This study accessed compliance of Section 6 of COTPA around EIs in</span><span class="fontstyle2" style="color: #ed028c;"> </span><span class="fontstyle2">Delhi. </span></p><p><strong><span class="fontstyle0">Methods: </span></strong><span class="fontstyle2">A cross‑sectional study was conducted in randomly selected 100 EIs from 6600 schools/colleges in Delhi. Activities related to Section 6 of<br />COTPA around EIs, such as the sale of tobacco products within a radius of 100 yards, sale of tobacco products to and by minors, and existence of display boards prohibiting sale of tobacco products were observed using Global Positioning System (GPS)‑enabled tablet computers preloaded with maps and Open Data Kit software. Data analysis was done using Epi Info version 7. </span></p><p><strong></strong><span class="fontstyle0"><strong>Results</strong>: </span><span class="fontstyle2">Among the 100 EIs surveyed (53 government, 47 private), tobacco products were sold at 43 outlets within a radius of 100 yards of 27 EIs. No outlet had a display board prohibiting sale of tobacco products to minors. One outlet sold tobacco products to minors during the period of observation, but sale of tobacco products by minors was not observed. Only 38% of EIs displayed board prohibiting tobacco sales; private EIs were signifcantly less likely to display signs prohibiting tobacco sales than government EIs (45% vs. 81%; </span><span class="fontstyle3">P </span><span class="fontstyle2">&lt; 0.001). </span></p><p><span class="fontstyle0"><strong>Conclusions</strong>: </span><span class="fontstyle2">Sale of tobacco products is common around EIs in Delhi. The use of simple technology provided quick results to policy‑makers. Similar periodic surveys should help regulatory agencies to strictly enforce provisions of COTPA.</span></p><p><strong></strong><span class="fontstyle0" style="color: #00652e;"><strong>Keywords</strong>: </span><span class="fontstyle3">Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, Delhi, educational institutions, tablet computers, tobacco</span> <br style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /></p>http://ijpm.mui.ac.ir/index.php/ijpm/article/view/1818http://ijpm.mui.ac.ir/index.php/ijpm/article/download/1818/2107