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GLOBAL ADULT TOBACCO SURVEY in Region 12 kicks-off
After the successful 6-day Second Level Training on the specifics of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) on August 31 to September 5, 2009 at Sardonyx Plaza and Restaurant, Cotabato City, Region 12’s team of field interviewers embarked on its task of collecting data on tobacco use for a number of sample households in the region with the use of IPAQ hand-held computers.
Said device includes prime features like touch screen, wireless power, light sensor, and 5-way navigation key. It will be used entirely for the survey in the conduct of screenings, interviews and performance of Case Management System functions. With the use of the aforesaid gadget, NSO has taken its leap forward, embracing new technology to do tasks speedily and seamlessly. Enumeration date officially began on September 8, 2009 and ends up on October 5, 2009.
Aside from monitoring adult tobacco use (smoking and smokeless), the 2009 GATS, a nationally representative household survey, seeks to keep track of primary tobacco control interventions and initiatives in countries with highest smoking rates, that included Philippines along with other fourteen (14) countries. In this second phase of the GATS, other participating nations also identified with high smoking rates are Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Poland, Russian Federation, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam.
According to recent studies of the World Health Organization (WHO), 5 million deaths per year were recorded, making tobacco as the world’s top killer. Experts agree that if current smoking patterns go on, smoking will kill nearly 10 million people annually by 2020, and 7 million of these deaths will occur in developing nations such as in the countries previously mentioned.
In response, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Foundation established systematic surveys to monitor global tobacco use among adults with financial aid from Bloomberg Philanthropies. As an upshot, realization of GATS is a team effort of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Centers for Disease Control Foundation (CDCF), the World Health Organization, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, RTI International and other countries. In the Philippines, GATS will be pulled off in partnership with the Department of Health (DOH).
Taking the task for Region XII’s training were Priscilla E. Bacus, Statistician II of NSO Manila, Statistician Aide Rodolfo M. Mendoza of the Regional Office, and Statistical Coordination Officer I Jeffrey S. Superlativo of NSO SOCSARGEN, General Santos City. Training consultant was Dr. Franklin C. Diza of DOH’s National Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
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