Background

The World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) developed the Global Health Professions Student Survey (GHPSS) in 2004 to collect data on tobacco use and cessation counseling among health professional students.
Tobacco use among health professionals is of particular interest in the area of tobacco related surveillance since they are not only responsible for primary health care and education for tobacco related issues such as cessation and exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke, but are also role models in the community.
Furthermore, the preamble of the WHO FCTC emphasizes the role of health professional bodies in efforts to include tobacco control in the public health agenda and contribute actively to the reduction of tobacco consumption. These activities are also described in the Code of Practice for Health Professionals which has been officially adopted now by several Health Professional Associations

Description

The GHPSS is a school-based survey of third-year students pursuing advanced degrees in dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy. The GHPS uses a core questionnaire on demographics, prevalence of cigarette smoking and other tobacco use, knowledge and attitudes about tobacco use, exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke, willingness to stop smoking, and training received regarding patient counseling on smoking cessation techniques. The GHPSS has a standardized methodology for selecting participating schools and classes and has uniform data processing procedures.
The GHPSS at PAHO Member States were conducted by 11 countries in four health professional disciplines (dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy).

- GHPSS Country Fact Sheets

- GHPSS Country Reports
            Chile, 2008 (Spanish)

RELATED DOCUMENTS

Tobacco Use and Cessation Counseling. Global Health Professionals Survey Pilot Study, 10 Countries, 2005. May 27, 2005 / 54(20); 505-509.