The so-called "Spanish model" - tobacco industry strategies and its impact in Europe and Latin America.

BACKGROUND: To demonstrate the tobacco industry rationale behind the "Spanish model" on non-smokers' protection in hospitality venues and the impact it had on some European and Latin American countries between 2006 and 2011. METHODS: Tobacco industry documents research triangulated against news and media reports. RESULTS: As an alternative to the successful implementation of 100% smoke-free policies, several European and Latin American countries introduced partial smoking bans based on the so-called "Spanish model", a legal framework widely advocated by parts of the hospitality industry with striking similarities to "accommodation programmes" promoted by the tobacco industry in the late 1990s. These developments started with the implementation of the Spanish tobacco control law (Ley 28/2005) in 2006 and have increased since then. CONCLUSION: The Spanish experience demonstrates that partial smoking bans often resemble tobacco industry strategies and are used to spread a failed approach on international level. Researchers, advocates and policy makers should be aware of this ineffective policy.

German medical students lack knowledge of how to treat smoking and problem drinking.

AIM: To assess the extent of undergraduate medical training on alcohol use disorders (AUD) and smoking, and medical students' perceived knowledge regarding consequences of, and treatment options for, these disorders compared with other chronic conditions. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey assessing teaching and perceived knowledge of health consequences and treatment options for AUD and smoking compared with diabetes and hypertension. SETTING: Medical schools in Germany. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-five of 36 medical school offices (response rate 69.4%) and 19 526 of 39 358 students from 27 medical schools (response rate 49.6%). MEASUREMENT: Medical schools were asked to provide information on curricular coverage of the four conditions. Students reported their year of study and perceived knowledge about the consequences of all four disorders and perceived knowledge of treatment options. FINDINGS: Courses time-tabled approximately half as many teaching hours on AUD and tobacco as on diabetes or hypertension. Final-year students reported high levels of knowledge of consequences of all four conditions and how to treat diabetes and hypertension, but only 20% believed they knew how to treat alcohol use disorders or smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Curriculum coverage in German medical schools of alcohol use disorders and smoking is half that of diabetes and hypertension, and in the final year of their undergraduate training most students reported inadequate knowledge of how to intervene to address them.