The project aims at analyzing the existing policies on second-hand smoke (SHS) control in European countries and their impact on SHS exposure and tobacco consumption, and to develop a system of indicators to evaluate and monitor them.

Despite great progress has been made in reduction of involuntary exposure to SHS in Europe, variation between countries is still large and exposure to SHS remains high in most countries. Furthermore, observance of policies seems to vary between countries, although no systematic and comparable evaluation measurements have been done or proposed. This project will focus on passive smoking, evaluating the impact of smoke-free policies in Member States on exposure to second hand smoke and tobacco consumption.

A review of the process of implementation of smoke-free policies in Member States will be carried out. An evaluation frame will be defined to analyze the evaluation process, taking into account the markers and methods used, the settings studied and other relevant variables. The project will carry out the analysis of validity, appropriateness, cost and feasibility of different indicators including airborne indicators (mainly nicotine and RSP), where most of the participants have a long experience and leadership at national and international level. Finally, the project will deal with the impact of smoke-free policies on tobacco consumption and exposure of particularly vulnerable groups, like children and hospitality sector workforce.

This project will provide technical reports and guidelines to evaluate smoke-free policies, which will be of particular interest to those many countries that are currently developing or considering the implementation of these policies.