Smoking practices in the black township population of Cape Town

A smoking prevalence survey was conducted in the black township population of Cape Town in order to assist with the planning of an anti-smoking campaign. Three townships were selected to reflect different levels of urbanisation: Langa (a settled urban community), Site B (a population of recent arrivals in the urban environment) and Khayelitsha (of intermediate urban status). Using World Health Organisation guidelines a school survey and an adult survey were conducted in each area. Of the 673 school pupils who were interviewed, 0.8% of girls and 23.7% of boys were current smokers. There was a trend to increasing smoking prevalence with increasing age among boys. After age-adjustment there was no difference in smoking prevalence between boys at the three schools. Information from 1320 adult respondents and 1,401 proxy-reported adults yielded an overall smoking prevalence of 7% (95% confidence interval 5.6-8.4%) for women and 60% (95% confidence intervals 57.5-62.5%) for men. Two-thirds of male smokers were smoking 10 or more cigarettes per day. The preferred mode of tobacco consumption in 87% of adults and 91% of school pupils was manufactured cigarettes. The survey has established three target groups for intervention in the black townships of Cape Town: boys in their early teens for prevention of initiation of smoking; adult men for assistance with smoking cessation; and girls and women to maintain their non-smoking status.