[Evaluation of tobacco consumption in grade school in Wilaya de Sétif]

As most developing countries, Algeria does not seem to have escaped the tobacco epidemic raging around the world. Tobacco there has become one of the principal causes of death and illness. To confront this alarming situation, preventive measures have been taken. In particular, an epidemiological investigation of tobacco consumption was conducted among grade-school students in the Wilaya de Setif during the 1986-87 academic year. The fundamental data on tobacco dependency in grade school was obtained. 1,771 students from 12 to 20 years of age were polled through individual and anonymous questionnaires. The dimensions of this scourge were thus revealed: 18% of these students are smokers. The majority (97%) are boys. Smoking begins early, after age 10, with a high point at 14. To face this situation, a National Committee Against Tobacco was introduced by the Ministry of Public Health. A grade school programme is in the planning. The following proposals were made: to inform, widely and objectively, the grade-school population, the teachers and the parents; to take action above all in the primary schools, which constitute an ideal setting to reach these children, who are potential smokers, before they become long-term smokers.