Perception of Youth on Smoking Among Medical Students

This is the study carried out among 400 First year M.B;B.S students of the University of Medicine (1), Yangon, during August 2007, to reveal knowledge related to tobacco smoking, their perception on smoking and prevalence of smoking among the students, . Majority of the students have knowledge upon health hazards of smoking and passive smoking, although they did not have exposure upon the medical subjects and female student had better awareness than male students. Prevalence of current smokers among overall students was 5.8%. Their smoking habit was influenced by habit of friends and sibling smoking. Their smoking habit was associated with knowledge level and also was associated with perceived susceptibility, seriousness, threat, benefit of quit smoking and control activities of tobacco smoking The program of health education talk about health hazard of smoking should be encouraged in university campus. Tobacco related topic should be supplement in their curriculum. The existing ban of smoking should be monitored, supervised expanded to smoke free area, to gain effective tobacco control and should be organized and form anti-smoking campaign.