The Provence-Alpes Côte d’Azur Regional Health Agency continues its commitment to the prevention and fight against tobacco in health establishments

ARS Paca pursues the objective of increasing the number of “Tobacco-free Health Places” in the region, with particular attention paid to ensuring that committed establishments obtain a high level of certification (“Silver Label”) which demonstrates a significant commitment to the fight against smoking.

A call for projects to support establishments

In order to respond to this major public health challenge, in August 2024 ARS Paca launched a call for projects intended for health establishments. This call for projects aims to provide selected establishments with funding that allows:

• to deploy human resources dedicated to project management;
• to set up tobacco consultations;
• to strengthen the skills of teams and communication within establishments thanks to support from the Arca Sud association which offers training and adapted communication tools (signage, videos, posters, etc.).

The selected establishments

In total, 10 establishments in the region were selected:

• Antoine Lacassagne Center in Nice
• Nice University Hospital Center
• Grasse Hospital Center
• Avignon Hospital Center
• Sainte Catherine Institute (ICAP) in Avignon
• Martigues Hospital Center
• North Hospital (AP-HM)
• Timone Hospital (AP-HM)
• Conception Hospital (AP-HM)
• South Hospital (AP-HM)

Calendar

The selected establishments have a period of 15 monthsof November 2024 to January 2026to implement the actions necessary to obtain certification
« Label Argent ».

What is a tobacco-free health place?

And Tobacco-free health place is a health establishment which implements an active strategy to support smokers and reduce smoking, thus exceeding the legal requirements in force.

Concretely, the health establishment which is part of the “Tobacco-free Health Places” approach undertakes to

• strict application of the smoking ban within its premises: layout of premises, reinforcement of signage, etc.
• provide care for patients and professionals who smoke: identification, proposal for tobacco consultation, prescription of nicotine substitutes and support for smoking cessation, etc.
• training and providing caregivers with the necessary tools for proper care of smoking patients;
• carrying out awareness and communication campaigns

By adopting this approach, these establishments contribute to building an environment conducive to reducing smoking.