The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) is the global standard for systematically monitoring adult tobacco use (smoking and smokeless) and tracking key tobacco control indicators. GATS is a nationally representative survey, using a consistent and standard protocol across countries including the Russian Federation. GATS enhances countries' capacity to design, implement and evaluate tobacco control programs. It will also assist the Russian Federation to fulfill their obligations under the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and components of the WHO MPOWER technical package to generate comparable data within and across countries. GATS uses a global standardized methodology. It includes information on respondents' background characteristics, tobacco use (smoking and smokeless), cessation, second-hand smoke, economics, media, and knowledge, attitudes and perceptions towards tobacco use. In the Russian Federation, GATS was conducted in 2009 as a household survey of persons 15 years of age and older by the Statistics of Russia under the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) and the Pulmonary Research Institute (PRI), under the coordination of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation (MoHSD). A multi-stage, geographically clustered sample design was used to produce nationally representative data. One individual was randomly chosen from each selected household to participate in the survey. Survey information was collected using handheld devices. The Russian Federation sample design will provide nationally representative estimates for urban-rural areas stratified by gender. The household response rate was 98.6%, the person response rate was 99.1% and the overall response rate was 97.7%. There were a total of 11,406 completed interviews. The survey results will be discussed in detail by the questionnaire topics and various tobacco control indicators.

Keywords: Global adult tobacco survey; Russia; Rosstat; MoHSD

Biography: Dr. Tatiana Konik is a senior member of Statistics of Russia, Federal State Statistics Office and focal point for the Global Adult Tobacco Survey in the Russian Federation.