OBJECTIVETo assess the implementation of World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) by organizations in seven provinces/municipalities in China.

METHODSA total of 901 organizations, including hospitals, schools, government departments, health administrative departments and public transportation facilities, were selected by multistage sampling method in five provinces and two municipalities in China, 2010 and 2012. Key informant interview and observation survey were conducted to collect data on implementation of WHO FCTC. Analysis was performed among three clusters of indexes, which were establishment of smoke-free environment, education and training on tobacco control, and tobacco cessation measures.

RESULTSThe five types of organizations performed differently in creating smoke-free environment. The ratios of conducting complete smoke-free policy in hospitals, health administrative departments and schools were separately 83.3% (111/192), 81.6% (146/179) and 66.5% (121/182) in 2012, which were comparatively higher than those in governments (32.4%, 33/102) and public transport facilities (25.0%, 27/108) (χ(2) = 174.93, P < 0.01) . As for promotion and training programs of tobacco control information, the ratio of health administrative departments raised from 78.1% (150/192) to 100.0% (192/192), and the difference showed statistical significance (χ(2) = 42.00, P < 0.01). But those departments who provide training to social media only accounted for 11.8% (22/187), which was substantially lower than the percentage of those providing training to themselves (67.7%, 128/189) (χ(2) = 413.99, P < 0.01). Three indexes of tobacco cessation related work--offering help in tobacco use quitting, providing health workers with training on tobacco cessation skills and establishing tobacco cessation clinics, only reached as low as 41.1% (312/760) , 55.6% (104/187) and 45.9% (89/194), respectively. Among the seven provinces/municipalities, Shanghai did better than the others on most of the indexes. 27 out of 28 schools in Shanghai implemented complete smoke-free policy, which was the best among the seven, while only 3 out of 26 in Jiangxi, as the poorest (χ(2) = 47.63, P < 0.01). Meanwhile, all of the 24 schools in Shanghai had health education classes on tobacco control, followed by Zhejiang (23 out of 29), while Jiangxi was also the poorest, only 12 out of 26 (χ(2) = 17.95, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe implementation of WHO FCTC by the five types of organizations in the seven provinces/municipalities has improved to various degrees. Nevertheless, further actions should be taken to promote smoke-free environment especially in certain circumstances such as public transport facilities, to strengthen training programs of tobacco control for social media, and to enhance hospitals' abilities in providing tobacco cessation services.