WHO supports Russian Federation university to encourage students to quit smoking

On the occasion of Quit Smoking Day, which is traditionally marked on the third Thursday of November, a student action team at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation organized a 1-week campaign to encourage students to quit smoking. WHO supported this initiative by providing smoke analysers, communication materials and visual tools.

Many students of the Financial University, which is one of the leading higher educational entities in the country, are smokers. As Alexander Elkin, student and coordinator of the antismoking campaign, noted with concern, “It is sad to see the typical scene in every break between lectures, when smoking students crowd the area near the main entrance, creating an impassable barrier and thick suffocating smog. They finish by throwing their cigarette butts on the ground, polluting not only the air, but also the soil”. He is a member of the University student club board that advocates for a healthy lifestyle approach that runs counter to harmful tobacco consumption.

Smoke analysers to visualize the effect of smoking

To engage as many students as possible and make the campaign more appealing to the younger generation, WHO suggested using smoke analysers that measure exhaled carbon monoxide. These devices are easy to use and they immediately visualize results with a “traffic light” indicator for non-, light- and heavy-smoker levels. Specialists were on hand to provide interpretation of results and brief advice. By the end of campaign, some student smokers had decided to undergo this check-up again, and having observed reduced levels of toxins, they proudly announced that they had quit smoking. In addition, many young people got a better understanding of second-hand smoke and environmental pollution.

Series of lectures to raise awareness of tobacco impact

During the campaign, students were able to attend thematic lectures provided by health professionals from the National Research Centre for Preventive Medicine, which were held at the University to avoid interruption of the learning process. Interactive lectures were based on WHO approaches to tobacco control and covered such topics as how to quit smoking, the impact of tobacco on human health, the dangers of electronic cigarettes and water-pipe use, and the strong interlinkages between tobacco use and tuberculosis.

In total, more than 500 students participated in the antismoking campaign of 2018. WHO plans to continue this collaboration, contributing to healthier lives for the future financial professionals of the country.