Navidad Canga, professor at the School of Nursing of the University of Navarra, presented a communication that was awarded a runner-up prize at the IV National congress on Smoking Prevention and Treatment. The scientific meeting , organized in Barcelona by the committee Nacional de Prevención del Tabaquismo, was attended by more than 600 professionals and featured internationally renowned speakers such as Dr. Simon Chapman, Dr. Karl Fagerström, Dr. Valentí Fuster and Dr. Richard Hurt.

The communication presented by Professor Canga is entitled "assessment of a non-smoking policy in the university environment. project Healthy University II". This work is part of a research of the School of Nursing and department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health of the University of Navarra.

In the project Healthy University -awarded among more than 150 works of research- the main results of the assessment of this university center were presented. The researchers recall that "in 2002 a non-smoking policy was implemented at the University of Navarra in which smoking was only allowed in areas specially designed for this purpose, so that the rest of the University became a smoke-free space".

60-70% reduction of environmental pollution

According to the professor, "one year after the implementation of the policy, 78.2% of employees are satisfied with the policy and only 2.2% consider that the rules and regulations on tobacco is poorly enforced". She also emphasizes that "the nuisance reported by University employees caused by tobacco smoke has decreased very significantly. There has been a very significant reduction in the hours of exhibition to air polluted by tobacco smoke among people working and studying at the University".

In addition, "one year after the implementation of the policy, the levels of environmental pollution have decreased by 60-70% in cafeterias and lobbies of the University. Smoking workers also benefited from rules and regulations: a significant issue of them quit smoking and among those who continued to smoke there was a significant decrease in the number of cigarettes consumed per day issue of -7.1. Today, two and a half years after the first measures were taken, the University of Navarra is today, at campus in Pamplona, a totally smoke-free space".