Establishment of the Syrian Center for Tobacco Studies

描述（由申请人提供）：烟草使用在发展中国家越来越流行。除非扭转目前的趋势，否则到2020-2030年的十年，烟草每年将导致1000万人死亡，其中70%的死亡发生在发展中国家。在美国和其他发达国家，通过对烟草使用进行深入的科学研究，这种流行病得到了遏制，但发展中国家往往缺乏这种科学努力的能力和基础设施。在东地中海地区尤其如此，在叙利亚、约旦和黎巴嫩等国，烟草流行基本上没有受到控制。这项申请的首要目标是建立一个研究，治疗和预防EM烟草依赖的中心。叙利亚烟草研究中心将作为国家和区域烟草控制工作的资源，包括流行病学研究、临床研究以及预防和戒烟干预措施的制定。该中心还将作为传播与新兴市场区域烟草控制工作有关的信息的协调中心。在头五年，中心的具体目标是： 1.学习研究烟草使用和当地吸烟习惯的方法，使用关键的线人访谈和焦点小组来指导流行病学，临床实验室和治疗策略的发展。今年1的努力将提供SCTS的基础。第二，第1年和第2年的流行病学研究将详细说明阿勒颇（叙利亚第二大城市）烟草使用和戒烟的模式和决定因素，重点是香烟和水烟袋的使用。 2.在阿勒颇建立的临床实验室中，描述EM中流行的吸烟系统（在某些情况下是EM特有的）的主观、生理和行为影响。该实验室将在项目的头12个月建立，在资助期的第2-5年，将在该实验室进行两项关于烟草使用的详细研究。 3.根据流行病学和临床实验室结果的数据，测试适合叙利亚环境的基于初级保健的戒烟干预措施。这项干预措施将在第二年制定，并在第三至第五年实施和测试。 4.培训叙利亚烟草研究人员，以便在项目结束时，当地能够获得维持和扩大SCTS所需的专业知识和资源。培训内容将包括在美国学习的奖学金计划，赞助年度区域烟草控制会议，以及通过互联网为EM的其他研究人员和机构提供专家咨询和资源共享。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Tobacco use is becoming epidemic in developing countries. Unless current trends are reversed, tobacco will kill 10 million people annually by the decade of 2020-2030, with a staggering 70% of these deaths in developing countries. This epidemic has been curbed in the US and other developed countries with intensive scientific study of tobacco use, but developing nations often lack the capacity and infrastructure for such scientific efforts. This is especially true in the Eastern Mediterranean (EM) region, where the tobacco epidemic is largely unchecked in countries such as Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. This application's overarching goal is to establish a center for the study, treatment, and prevention of tobacco dependence in the EM. The Syrian Center for Tobacco Studies will serve as a national and regional resource for tobacco control efforts, including epidemiological study, clinical research, and prevention and cessation intervention development. The Center also will serve as a focal point for dissemination of information relevant to tobacco control efforts in the EM region. In its first five years, the specific aims of the Center are to: 1. Learn methods for studying tobacco use and local smoking practices using key informant interviews and focus groups to guide the development of epidemiological, clinical laboratory, and treatment strategies. This Year 1 effort will provide the SCTS's foundation. Second, an epidemiological study during Years 1 and 2 will detail the patterns and determinants of tobacco use and cessation in Aleppo (Syria's second-largest city), focusing on cigarette and narghile (water pipe) use. 2. Describe, in a clinical laboratory established in Aleppo, the subjective, physiological, and behavioral effects of smoking systems that are popular in, and in some cases unique to, the EM. This laboratory will be established in the first 12 months of the project and two detailed studies of tobacco use will occupy the laboratory during Years 2-5 of the funding period. 3. Test a primary-care based smoking cessation intervention tailored to the Syrian setting based on data from epidemiological and clinical laboratory results. This intervention will be developed during Year 2 and implemented and tested in Years 3-5. 4. Train Syrian tobacco researchers so that the expertise and resources necessary for sustaining and expanding the SCTS will be in place locally at project's end. Training components will include a fellowship program for study in the United States, sponsorship of an annual regional tobacco control conference, and expert consultation and resource-sharing via Internet for other researchers and institutions in the EM.