Hospitals without smoke or the experience of the Armenian National Oncology Hospital

Armenia has one of the highest male smoking rates in the European region. Smoke-free policies shown to reduce population exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) are the norm in hospitals in many countries around the world.

Although smoking in healthcare facilities has been banned since 2005, compliance with this ban has been poor due to lack of implementation and enforcement mechanisms and social acceptability of smoking. The national oncology hospital was chosen as the intervention site. The study aimed to develop and test a model intervention to address the lack of compliance with the de jure smoking ban.

This study used employee surveys and objective measurements of respirable particles and air nicotine as markers of indoor air pollution before and after the intervention. The intervention developed in partnership with the hospital staff.

The survey showed significant improvement in the perceived quality of indoor air, reduced worksite exposure to SHS and increased employees' awareness of the smoke-free policy.

This model can facilitate a tangible improvement in compliance with smoke-free policies as the first step toward a smoke-free hospital and serve as a model for similar settings in transition countries such Armenia that have failed to implement the adopted smoke-free policies.

The study was conducted by the Research and Development Center of the American University of Armenia in cooperation with the School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

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