Using a MediaWiki platform to disseminate information on tobacco: TobaccoUnmasked.lk

Abstract

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: The Centre for Combating Tobacco (CCT) Sri Lanka is the first, and currently tobacco observatory in the region. The main purpose of CCT is to monitor tobacco industry activities related to implementation of Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). This study aimed to explore the acceptability of a Media Wiki based information portal in disseminating information in Sri Lanka. METHODS: www.tobaccounmasked.lk is the information portal of CCT, containing evidence-based peer-reviewed information under the themes: background, Tobacco Industry (TI), individuals and institutions linked with TI, TI activities and TI arguments and responses. Launched in July 2017, 'TobaccoUnmasked' (TU) is based on Media Wiki, an open source software that serves as a database as well as an information dissemination platform. The reach of the website was monitored using the Google Analytics software. RESULTS: Easy navigation and search, ability to link to internal and external resources and generate categories were the positives identified in the tool during implementation. TobaccoUnmasked was used by 1101 users during the three months with 4799 page views in 1688 sessions. Even though TU reached 55 countries, majority (n=1273; 75.4%) of session views was from Sri Lanka. Apart from the Main page, most viewed page was “Movement to legalise marijuana and the tobacco industry'. Users were mostly referred via 'organic search' (n=676; 40.0%) while direct search referrals (n=406; 24.0%) and referrals via social media (n=306; 18.l %) were also common.CONCLUSION: MediaWiki platform can be effectively used to disseminate information related to tobacco in Sri Lanka.