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World No Tobacco Day (WNTD)
We need food, not tobacco
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Deir el Kalaa from 9h AM to 12hPM
AUB-TFI
Under the theme “Enjoy nature, don’t smoke” and on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) 2023, calling to “grow food and not tobacco” on Wednesday 31st May, the Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking Knowledge Hub (WTS-KH) at American University of Beirut (AUB), and Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI) observed this annual event at Deir el Kalaa Country Club, followed by a hike in the beautiful Beit Meri hills.
“First, let’s quit bad habits like smoking and vaping and learn how to benefit from the amazing and beauty of nature in Lebanon. Then, let’s stop polluting nature and not throw cigarette butts that contaminate the environment and contribute further to the destructive pollution and also to avoid smoking nargileh amongst the beautiful pinewood and leave behind lit charcoal which leads to damaging forest fires that threaten seriously the 22 % of the green spaces left in our country”; this was the main message of H.E. Minister of Environment Dr Nasser Yassine who participated in the event and supported it. The event was attended by many officials, among them MP Elie Hankach, Mrs Nohal Homsi (WHO), ex-MP Ghassan Moukheiber…, senior directors from Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth and Sports, several directors of schools and their pupils as well as university students and hikers. In his welcoming note, Dr Ghazi Zaatari, AUB Professor, Chair of WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation and Director of WHO-FCTC Knowledge Hub on Waterpipe, emphasized the dangers to human health by all tobacco products including the novel and emerging tobacco and nicotine products such as electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products. He highlighted the alarming increasing and uncontrolled trend in waterpipe use in Lebanon, especially amongst youth. He called on government officials to reinforce the implementation of Law 174 to protect the health and well-being of the Lebanese citizens, particularly the youngsters.
Addressing the numerous youngsters in the audience, Dr Hala Kahi Mouawad, Family Medicine physician and Tobacco Treatment Specialist as well as TFI board member focused in her presentation on the false and misleading information by the tobacco industry that promotes e-cigarettes as being less harmful than conventional cigarettes in order to gain more consumers and bring them to be nicotine addicts. “That’s why, this year, TFI decided to make the youngsters discover more the beauty of the Lebanese nature as an alternative to smoking in order to relax and disconnect from the daily stress. Thus, the idea of the hike in nature”, stressed journalist Elsa Yazbek Charabati, Master of Ceremony and Vice President of TFI.
“Hiking in nature is not only a nice activity, it’s a therapy. It makes us clean our head from the negative vibes surrounding us. In the nature, you forget the cigarette, because you learn the importance of breathing fresh air”, said Joyce Azzam, the first Lebanese woman to complete “The Seven Summits Challenge”.
The program of this celebrated event included a video presentation by Luciano Ruggia, director of the Swiss Association for Tobacco Control, entitled « The 17 Sustainable Development Goals : How tobacco is disrupting them? ». Ms Ghazaleh Badine made a very touching testimonial; she lost her father because of lung cancer due to tobacco growing and consumption and she stressed the necessity to stop planting tobacco and shift to growing alternative edible crops instead, in line of WNTD 2023 moto of : “Grow food, not tobacco”. Finally, Antoine & Minerva Kairouz Awards were distributed to deserving individuals and organizations who have been strong advocates of tobacco control in Lebanon over the years. After the ceremony, the audience joined on a hike in the nearby neighbourhood to enjoy the beautiful wilderness and mountainous sceneries of Beit Meri.
The Materials, agenda, presentation, and pictures are on the below google drive link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EG5bWFBG3GKJEBnVa44QWBFkeqRHGdws?usp=sharing
The WTS-KH event all over the news:
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