The University of Alicante is the first in the Community with a smoke-free campus

The Alicante University It is the first institution in the area and among the first in Spain to announce that smoking is not permitted on campus. This is the end of a campaign by the Healthy University Secretariat to make the campus of San Vicente del Raspeig a healthier and more sustainable place by reducing smoking.

As part of a nationwide campaign to increase awareness against smoking, the experiment, which is currently coming to an end, started in November 2023 when the university campus’s first smoke-free area opened.

Universities that promote health

Within the framework of the Spanish Network of Health-Promoting Universities, it is being developed in partnership with the Alicante province’s Association Against Cancer with the goal of educating young people about the risks associated with new electronic vaping devices and the significance of quitting smoking.

At the space’s inauguration, Arturo Jiménez, the organization’s vice president, underlined that one in eight cancer deaths occurred in nonsmokers who had been exposed to tobacco in their social or familial lives.

Areas within the province

Additionally, he said that, according to the Association Against Cancer’s observatory, two out of three people support this kind of campaign, and he estimated that 34 locations in the province have already been designated smoke-free.

According to Rector Amparo Navarro, the project was introduced gradually at specific campus locations and has advanced since it became evident that the university community as a whole supports this public health action.

He emphasised that the organisation he represents is dedicated to values-based education and the creation of responsible citizens after recalling his own experience as a student at the UA, when smoking was prevalent in classrooms and even in the Prevention service.

University of Health

Navarro expressed gratitude to Professor José Ramón Martínez Riera, the project’s proponent, for taking the initiative. Director of the Healthy University Secretariat, which answers to the Vice-Rectorate for Occupational Health, Sustainability, and Infrastructure.