Chula partners with the Department of Public Health to battle smoking addicts by delegating smoking areas; protecting students and staff alongside modifying the behavior of Thai people.

Every 1 minute around the world, someone loses their life to the dangers of smoking, with this being one of the top causes of death in the world and amassing to over 5 million deaths a year. Preventative measures and solutions for this issue are of the utmost importance with everyone needing to work together diligently to ensure over 650 million people do not have to see their lives end prematurely. Reflecting on the issue in Thailand, data from the Tobacco Regulation Program from the year 2560-2564 BE shows that in young people aged 15-18, there has been a rise in smoking tobacco and electronic cigarettes from 6.58 percent to 8.25 percent. This correlates with the data from the Campaign to Stop Smoking that shows that in people ages 18 and under, over 400,000 are addicted to cigarettes with over 70 percent stating they would be unable to quit throughout their lifetime if they were to still be exposed to the strategic tactics of the tobacco industry, which aims to entice the youth.

Hence, Chulalongkorn University has partnered with the Department of Public Health to announce the “Policy to protect non-smokers health and delegate “smoking areas” specifically, 2563 BE” which aims to strictly modify the behavior of smokers in educational areas. It will be implemented by protecting the health of non-smokers in areas such as buildings and delegating shared public spaces as smoke-free areas alongside clearly assigning separate smoking and non-smoking zones. This is in the hope to properly maintain smoking areas to be orderly and appropriate. Furthermore, campaigns encouraging students and staff to find the courage to reduce and quit smoking have been put in place. 

Prof. Dr.Bundhit Eua-arporn, chancellor of Chulalongkorn University states that “ We have to care for both smokers and non-smokers to be able to cohabitate together by managing the appropriate spaces and displaying the proper signages that clearly separate smoking and no-smoking areas. We consider the community’s health to be a priority, from previously not officially managing smoking areas in shared public spaces due to having to conform to the law. By directing certain faculties to delegate smoking areas, we found that the amount of students smoking had reduced, and students that did smoke were smoking in the designated areas without affecting the other pupils. Furthermore, we are currently publicizing and campaigning this within the community intensely, while also patrolling and communicating with non-conformers about the effects this has continuously.

Otherwise, Chulalongkorn University via the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences has joined forces with the 5 networks of the Public Health Centre to work with the communities from the surrounding areas of the university to modify public behavior. Additionally, they offered to quit smoking services to people within the communities that have worked to partner with the Tobacco Solutions Network and created networks of volunteer pharmacists helping people quit smoking this past World No-Tobacco Day.