[Secondary school teachers' smoking in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso]

This study was carried out among teachers of 10 secondary schools in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in order to contribute to the development and implementation of a tobacco control programme in the school setting. The study had the following objectives: 1) to determine the extent of teachers' smoking addiction in the secondary schools in the city of Ouagadougou, 2) to describe the perceptions, attitudes and behaviour of teachers in the secondary school setting when confronted with smoking in the city's schools, 3) to determine the teachers' level of knowledge with respect to the harmful effects of smoking. The study was carried out from May 25 to June 30, 2001, and it included 300 teachers, 218 of which were men and 82 women. The study demonstrated that it is important to inform and sensitise teachers based upon their attitudes and perceptions with respect to tobacco.