Smoke Free Hospitals

SMOKE-FREE HOSPITALS NETWORK

The Transfusion Center of the Community of Madrid belongs to the Network of Smoke-free Hospitals of the Community of Madrid with the aim of guaranteeing donors and workers a health care and work environment free of tobacco smoke as well as informing staff of the center on the resources for smoking cessation. To meet its objectives, the CTCM has a committee made up of different professionals in charge of carrying out self-assessments of the center and proposing improvements, as well as attending all the meetings and events organized by the Smoke-Free Hospital Network: meetings of delegates, plenary sessions, conferences, among others.

The Community of Madrid recognizes the status of Smoke-Free Hospital with different accreditations (member or bronze, silver and gold member), based on the score obtained in the self-assessment questionnaire as well as the work of the Smoking Prevention Committees of said hospitals.

Currently the Transfusion Center has the Silver Category.

Origin of the project

The Network of Smokefree Hospitals (Red MSM) in Madrid was born in 2004 under the guidelines of the European Network "European Network Smokefree Hospitals" (ENSH). The Network carries out strategies that combine the commitment of the management team, health professionals and the rest of the workers with actions that predispose, favor or reinforce behaviors to limit tobacco consumption.

Subsequently, Law 42/2010 of December 30 on sanitary measures against smoking established the total prohibition of smoking in health centers, services or establishments. The professionals of these institutions must especially guarantee compliance with the General Health Law for the sake of better health promotion and disease prevention.

Tobacco use has been recognized as the single most important cause of preventable morbidity and premature mortality. It is related to more than 25 diseases, it is the cause of more than 30% of cancers and more than 55.000 deaths per year in Spain.