A smoke-free medical campus in Jerusalem: Data for action

Background: Establishing smoke-free environments is a major component of tobacco control policy. The introduction of a smoke-free policy in medical campuses may serve as a role model for other educational and health institutions but little has been published about their prevalence or impact. In 2012, the Faculty of Medicine at Hebrew University-Hadassah in Jerusalem, Israel launched a smoke-free Medical Campus initiative. This study examined smoking behaviours, cigarette smoke exposure and attitudes towards the smoke-free campus policy among students and employees. Methods: Using a self-administered questionnaire, data was collected from medical, dental and pharmacy students, as well as employees of the school of pharmacy. We approached the entire target population in 2013 (N = 449), with a response rate of 72.5% (N = 313). Results: The rate of smoking was 8.3% (95% CI 5.5-11.9%). Most participants reported daily exposure or exposure several times a week to cigarette smoke (65.8%). Overall, 98.0% had reported seeing people smoke in open campus areas and 27.2% indoors. Most participants supported the smoking ban inside buildings (94.2%) but fewer supported (40.8%) a complete ban of smoking throughout the campus, including outside areas. Only 18.4% agreed that a policy prohibiting smoking was unfair to smokers. A multivariable analysis showed that support for a complete ban on smoking on campus was higher among non-smokers than for smokers (OR = 9.5, 95% CI 2.2-31.5, p = 0.02). Conclusions: The smoke-free policy does not have total compliance, despite the strong support among both students and employees for a smoke-free medical campus. The data collected will assist policy makers move towards a total smoke-free medical campus and will aid tobacco control efforts in Israel and other countries.