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A study on 285 students and teachers of a nurse professional school was undertaken in two hospital of Genoa. A questionnaire proposed by World Health Organization and by Italian League Against Cancer was employed to collect data on smoking habits and behaviour. Subjects included in the present study were selectively chosen as they are in a transitional phase between school application and working environment within the hospital practice. Although these sample of hospital personnel showed a slow trend toward quit smoking, the rates of smokers are rather high, both in the youth (55%) and in the teachers. Our results showed that 87% of subjects interview agreed with the necessity to avoid smoking within the hospital environment; young nurses generally lack a specific knowledge about the hazard of smoking and more detailed information is requested for a correct education and prevention of patients' health.

An investigation on smoking habits of teachers of secondary and high schools allowed the collection of very interesting and useful data for the organization of post-graduate up-date courses and health education programs. Smokers' proportion remains still high, as 35% of males and 30% of females teachers are smokers; this situation is different in other countries, where an inverse relationship exists between smoking habit and economic welfare and cultural level. The number of daily-cigarettes was rather low only in females teachers, as 50% smoked less than 5-10 daily-cigarettes. Teachers' interviews suggested the high degree of interest in the organization of health education programs and courses on smoking, with special regard to the courses on smoking, with special regard to the methodology that is required for prevention programs in the school. The high attendance to the courses, the quantity and quality of teachers' reports on these problems and the practical application in school environment of these theoretical concepts confirmed the reliability and effectiveness of this methodologic approach.

An antismoking campaign aimed at the 9-18 year old Genoese school population in 1981-1985 is described. The high percentage of smokers in Italy and the worryingly early age at which the habit is acquired suggested the need for a carefully prepared ongoing programme of primary prevention that would not be limited to occasional speeches. Part of the programme was also directed towards school health officers, teachers and families for whom seminars and refresher courses and topics appropriate for each group were organised. The dangers of smoking framed in a broader context were described and debater before a total of 26,000 school children in 4 years. The results that can only now be examined due to initial difficulties in implementing the programme show that out of 4613 smokers involved in the programme 29.8% stopped smoking after a year. Significantly in the same group and in the same period only 2.5% of the school children began to smoke. In contrast 15.8% new smokers were found in the control group. Further checks on a wider sample are scheduled in order to verify and confirm the results presented.