A survey conducted by Rwanda Non-Communicable Disease Alliance in partnership with the Ministry of Health in 2023, has indicated that 29.3 per cent of adult Rwandans reported exposure to tobacco smoke in their home while 13 per cent reported exposure at work.
The survey aimed to show the prevalence of the alcohol and tobacco risk factors or causes of non-communicable diseases in Rwanda.
Participants aged 18 and above were selected randomly through random digit-dialing methods and were invited to complete the survey using a short message service (SMS, text messaging).
Over 7,000 mobile phone subscribers from different districts participated as a cost-saving technique to conduct the survey. Most were aged between 18 and 29, according to researchers.
The survey followed a trial by the Rwanda Ministry of Health and the Rwanda Biomedical Centre in 2022 which achieved a significant milestone by successfully conducting the first mobile phone survey to assess the prevalence of selected Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) risk factors in the country.
This ground-breaking initiative demonstrated the feasibility of utilising innovative methods for research purposes, yielding valuable results that could be compared with those obtained from traditional STEPS surveys.
“Building on this success, in 2023 we embarked on a similar endeavour, focusing specifically on studying alcohol and tobacco risk factors, along with associated attitudes and behaviours. The primary objective of this second survey was to gather nationally representative estimates of indicators related to alcohol and tobacco use, as well as attitudes towards their consumption,” said Alphonse Mbarushimana, executive director at Rwanda Non-Communicable Disease Alliance.
Approximately 5.6 per cent of Rwandan adults reported being current tobacco users with 3.7 per cent reporting current tobacco smoking and 2.2 per cent reporting current smokeless tobacco use.
Men were more likely to report any type of tobacco use than women.
Very few adult Rwandans reported ever using e-cigarettes (4.5 per cent).
“Overall, 29.3 per cent of adult Rwandans reported exposure to tobacco smoke in their home while 13 per cent reported exposure at work,” notes the report.
