Smokers who start young prone to addiction, says HMC expert
HMC’s Tobacco Control Center holding array of activities to mark World No Tobacco Day today
Dr Mulla said the developing brain and body of a young person weaken their ability to benefit from smoking cessation treatment. He stressed the importance of raising awareness of young people about the dangers of smoking as well as enforcing strict tobacco control laws
PEOPLE who start smoking before the age of 20, are more susceptible to addiction, the Head of Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Tobacco Control Center, has said.
The statement was released on Saturday, on the eve of the World No Tobacco Day, which is observed globally on May 31.
The theme for the World No Tobacco Day this year is ‘How to protect the world’s younger generations from using tobacco products of all types’, with a focus on protecting them from being manipulated by tobacco companies, which increasingly target young people to hook them to these addictive products.
Dr Mulla said the developing brain and body of a young person weaken their ability to benefit from smoking cessation treatment. He stressed the importance of raising awareness of young people about the dangers of smoking as well as enforcing strict tobacco control laws.
“Throughout the year our Tobacco Control Center organised activities in support of this year’s World No Tobacco Day theme, which included awareness events in several preparatory and secondary schools before schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue our awareness campaign, including on social media platforms. We have also been keen to highlight the link between smoking and severe COVID-19 illness and would intensify our campaign in this regard in the coming months”, said Dr Mulla.
Dr Mulla also called on the relevant authorities to effectively implement Law No 10 of 2016 to combat smoking in Qatar, which includes a number of sanctions designed to protect young people from using tobacco products, such as prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 18 years, preventing the sale of tobacco products near schools and universities and banning the sale of different smoking products such as sweika, medwakh and e-cigarette.
Dr Mulla said that HMC’s Tobacco Control Center is participating in global events on Sunday (May 31), including an online seminar organised by the World Health Organization and other global organiasations working in the field of smoking cessation. He said the seminar would allow participating countries can continue working together to discourage smoking in society.
“There are multiple methods and techniques used by the tobacco industry to entice young people to smoke, including adding different flavours such as strawberry, mint and apple to tobacco products; using attractive packaging of smoking products; misleading young people, particularly boys, to view smoking as a masculine activity, and enticing girls to view it as elegant, in addition to promoting tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, through cinema and TV”, said Dr Mulla.
“All of these tricks are obvious, but many young people are unaware of just how dangerous smoking is, and of the risks of smoking. However, thanks to global efforts to promote just how harmful smoking is, we have seen a decrease in smoking rates among young people in the recent years”, he added.
Dr Mulla has urged smokers to take advantage of the services provided by HMC’s Tobacco Control Center, which include therapeutic counselling, medication, behavioural and laser therapies, to help smokers quit smoking. For more information on HMC’s Tobacco Control Center, call 5080 0959.