Tobacco Smoking Habit Among the Employees in Health Institutions

The prevalence of tobacco consummation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is among highest levels in Europe: 49.3% of adult males and 35.1% of women are current smokers that are every other adult male and every third woman. In order to get a more complete picture of the prevalence of smoking among the health institutions employers and their compliance to the provisions of the law regarding the smoking ban in these institutions, the Institute of Public Health of the Medical Faculty in Sarajevo has conducted a survey on this problem in the area of the Sarajevo Canton. 660 employers of seven health institutions have been surveyed, of which 158 (23.9%) from the Medical Centre of the Sarajevo Canton, 123 (18.6%) from the “Prim. Dr. Abdulah Nakas” General Hospital, 112 (17. 0%) from the Institute for Urgent Medical Help, 85 (12.9%) from the Institute for Public Health of the Sarajevo Canton, 72 (10.9%) from the Institute for the Health Care of Women and Motherhood, 57 (8.6%) from the pharmacies of Sarajevo, and 53 (8.0%) from the Institute for Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. The largest number of smokers is among medical technicians (55.4%), technical staff (56.7%), and administrative staff (51.4%). Approximately 34.0% of medical doctors and specialists and 25.0% of graduate pharmacists are current smokers. The results of the survey indicate the prevalence of smoking among health employers. Law regulations on allowable smoking in special smoking areas are mostly not observed and therefore the largest numbers of employers (approximately three-fourths of them) is exposed to tobacco smoke in their workplaces. A significant number of medical technicians do not identify themselves as models of behavior for their patients. Therefore it is necessary to conduct the education of medical staff on the need to change their own behavior in order to contribute to reducing the number of patients smoking by providing an example, thereby improving their own health status.