BACKGROUND AND IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES: About 44% of Jordan’s population is younger than 20y, and the country has a high prevalence of tobacco use , high tobacco industry interference , and public resistance to tobacco control measures. Despite laws banning the sale of tobacco products within 250m of educational facilities, there are many observations of shops violating the laws , and selling tobacco and vaping products to children. However, lack of documented evidence hindered stronger law enforcement.
INTERVENTION OR RESPONSE: Tobacco Free Jordan and KHCC/CCO reframed Jordan’s tobacco issue as a child protection concern by (1) gathering evidence on tobacco and vape sales near schools in 2 densely populated areas of the capital, (2)produce action oriented advocacy tools that expose tobacco advertising tactics (3)created government momentum to discuss the tobacco problem in Jordan as a child protection one.
RESULTS AND IMPACT: Mapping retailer violation in a sample around schools produced evidence on the potential scale of children's exposure to tobacco and vaping products. A very high level launch and media engagement raised the attention of stakeholders, and contributed to pressuring the government to do more. This led to an investigation by the Ministry of Health (MoH) to clarify how the tobacco sales licenses were obtained, and halt issuance of new licenses. Ultimately, when time came for the MoH to engage the government at the highest levels(His Majesty the King), our data was available to demonstrate the situation. It was also used as the premise for inclusion of specific measures in Jordan’s subsequent national tobacco control plan.
CONCLUSIONS: Reframing the tobacco control problem in Jordan was needed to prompt more attention to the issue. Child protection was a perspective few could disagree to, and led to engagement of more stakeholders. Focusing on a specific area to evaluate( tobacco sales near schools) enabled targeted advocacy messages to be produced and amplified.