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MD Anderson Cancer Center will begin screening new job candidates to see if they smoke cigarettes, starting in 2015. Hospital president Dr. Ron DePinho says the new policy sends an important symbolic message to the patients and the world.
MD Anderson already subjects new hires to a urine test, looking for illegal drugs. The hospital will simply add a test for tobacco products to that process. The policy begins in 2015.
“To be honest, I think it’s long overdue,” said Dr. Ron DePinho, the president of MD Anderson.
“MD Anderson’s efforts really have to begin at home with a new campus policy to become 100% tobacco free in our hiring practices,” he added. “We believe that those who wish to end cancer for other Americans must also be willing to make the same commitment in their own lives.”
DePinho said job candidates who fail the screening test will be encouraged to start a smoking cessation program and can re-apply later.
Memorial Hermann and Houston Methodist already test new hires for smoking. DePinho said it only made sense for MD Anderson to follow suit, given its mission.
“If our mission is to end cancer, and if tobacco is the leading cause of preventable cancer deaths, accounting for one third of all cancers, I think we have to set an example,” he said.
One study estimates that smokers cost their employers almost $6,000 more per year, compared to non-smoker. That figure includes health care costs and lost productivity due to smoking breaks and absences.
DePinho said controlling health care costs was not the main motivation, however. “The major driver for us is to try to inspire as many people as possible to stop a habit which extracts very significant social, emotional, and economic toll on our society,” he said. “Over the next fifty years, tobacco use will result in over 500 million premature deaths. This year alone worldwide there will be six million lives lost – 700,000 of which are children.”
He explained the new hiring policy is in line with all the other prevention efforts made by the hospital, including doing research on how to quit, and advocating for regulations on e-cigarettes and marketing to youth.
Current MD Anderson employees are not affected by the new policy, but smokers are heavily encouraged to quit and supported in their efforts.