Phase-1
The project is a comprehensive effort by the Ministry of Railway to create a smoke-free environment in railway stations and trains across Bangladesh. The ARK Foundation has played a pivotal role in this initiative by conducting extensive baseline and endline surveys at 10 selected railway stations, chosen in consultation with Ministry of Railway. The baseline survey aimed to capture the status quo before any interventions were implemented. Through an observational study in baseline survey, it found that implementation and monitoring of existing tobacco control laws are inadequate in the railway stations and to ensure proper compliance, it requires further attention. Following the baseline survey, the Ministry of Railway implemented various measures to enhance the enforcement of tobacco control laws. These interventions included increased signage and awareness campaigns about the tobacco-free policies in railway stations. After the interventions, the endline survey assessed the effectiveness of the measures taken. Key findings from this survey included that there were significant improvements in the implementation and monitoring of tobacco control laws at the railway stations.
Phase-2
Phase 2 is the extension of phase 1 under the project. The Ministry of Railway extended their intervention in additional 20 railway station along with the 10 stations from phase 1. ARK Foundation supported in baseline evaluation of the project and continuing their effort to support in endline evaluation to understand the overall scenario of the implementation of tobacco laws in the railway stations of Bangladesh after the intervention implementation by Ministry of Railways under this project.
