Health promotion in universities: the national university smoke-free network

Introduction With the aim of implementing common policies of health promotion to counter the use of tobacco cigarettes and new products and e-cig at university, the UNIVERSITY SMOKE-FREE network was set up in Italy. Objective The main objectives of the network are: to update and uniform the university regulations; to investigate exposure of students and staff to active and passive smoking by means of a multicentre survey; to implement initiatives for helping students to stop smoking; to produce information and teaching materials. Material and Methods With the involvement of the university governments, a network was set up comprising 14 universities: Milan La Statale (UNIMI), Milan-Bicocca, Milan-Humanitas, Brescia, Insubria, Pavia, Bergamo, Rome Sapienza, Parma, Padua, Florence, Urbino, the Polytechnic University of Marche, and Palermo. In order to carry out the survey, a questionnaire was developed and validated1, investigating active cigarette smoking, use of new products, exposure to passive smoking, knowledge of the health effects of smoking, and knowledge of, and agreement on regulations. Results All network universities have started to review and update their smoke-free regulations. The survey protocol, developed at UNIMI, was shared among the universities for approval by their respective Ethics Committees. The survey was completed in 2021 by the University of Milan La Statale, and in May-July 2023 by the Universities of Brescia and Urbino, while it will be conducted in the other universities in 2024. To date, more than 10000 students participated in the survey (11-25% of students). First results show differences among universities and scientific and humanistic faculties, in terms of active and passive smoking, and awareness of risks of smoking2. Conclusions The establishment of the UNIVERSITY SMOKE-FREE network is an important step to counter smoking at university. Conducting a multicentre survey may be useful to develop information material and implement common policies. Conflicts of interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.