Nigeria: Students Cautioned Over Tobacco Addiction

Source from:  Daily Trust 06/30/2015

Facilitators at a one-day sensitisation programme on smoking prevention among young people, have cautioned secondary school students in Kaduna State against getting addicted to tobacco, saying that it can distract them from their primary assignment of learning.

The event tagged, "Youth Smoking Prevention Campaign Project, Kaduna," was organised for government secondary schools by the Action Health Incorporated, in conjunction with the state Ministry of Education.

In his lecture, the Director of Health Services/Counsellor in the ministry, Andrew Dodo, said apart from the academic distraction, the harmful effects of smoking in youths can also lead to long-term consequences, including social withdrawal, poor economic status, mental disorders and progression to alcoholism.

He said global data generally shows that most smokers are the youthful population, adding that there was the need for a detailed study in different communities in the country so as to have a clearer picture and data of smokers and other unknown environmental consequences.

The executive director of Care and Action Research, Joy Bala Dogo, said as simple as smoking was, it leads to other dangerous vices among youths, noting that in every community in the state, young people were found in uncompleted buildings and other hidden places smoking cigarettes when classes were going on. Enditem