Aikanysh Toktalieva, Public Centre for Tobacco Control, Tynystanova str.6b, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Chinara Bekbasarova, Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, Public Centre for Tobacco Control, Moscovskaya str.,148, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and Ayda Yurekli, PhD, Tobacco Free Initiative, World Health Organization, 20 Appia Ave., Geneva, Switzerland.
Objective: To study the prevalence of tobacco use among youth of the Kyrgyz Republic (KR) aged of 15 – 24 years old by sex and regions

Methods: This study was conducted within framework of the National representative survey among Population of the KR at the age of 15 years and older. The representative national random sample with 6000 members aged 15 years and older from 1936 households was selected using the 1999 Population Census. Excel and SPSS-12 were used for statistical analyses. Prevalence of tobacco use among youth of the aged of 15-24 years (1628 Respondents, including 801 men and 827 women) were analyzed separately.

Results: 9,5% of national level respondents aged 15-24 years were current smokers. 18, 2% of men are current smokers and 75% of these are regular smokers. 1, 0% of women at age 15 - 24 years are smokers at present, 62,5% of those who smoke currently are regular smokers. 4,1% of respondents have ever tried or experimented with cigarette smoking, even one or two puffs in their life time. 5 % of men have ever-tried nasvay (chewing tobacco) 70% of those are current users of nasvay and approximately 40% of those are residents of the tobacco growing region of Batken.

Acknowledgement: The Public Centre for Tobacco Control and Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic is grateful to Research for International Tobacco Control/International Development Research Centre, the Canadian Tobacco Control Research Initiative, the American Cancer Society and World Health Organization for their research support.