The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: To develop a baseline of attitudes, knowledge and behavior in Belo Horizonte prior to a public education campaign about the effects of second hand smoke.

Methods: A questionnaire was obtained from the CDC website, modified and translated. A sample of 603 respondents 15 year old or older were interviewed in Belo Horizonte by a specialized polling firm in July 2004. Interviewing methodology : in person interviews done in the nine political jurisdictions of Belo Horizonte.

Results: Prior to the effort described in this abstract, there have been very few studies to assess public attitudes, knowledge and behaviour about the harms of second hand smoke (SHS) in Brazil. Results from this survey showed that two per cent of respondents thought that SHS neither was annoying nor could cause serious health problems like cancer and heart disease and 17% reported that second-hand smoke was only annoying for non-smokers. There was widespread exposure to SHS: 54% reported being exposed to SHS at work and 48% reported being exposed to SHS both at work and when they went out with relatives, neighbourhoods and friends. 90% of the respondents would prefer if the employer restricted smoking at their work and 87% supported government action to restrict smoking in workplaces and other public places. 46% and 16%, respectively, thought that the most qualified to implement smoking restrictions were the Federal and Local Governments.