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Young patients seeking smoke cessation advice

Those who suffer from the health consequences of smoking are mainly young adults

Dr Hanan Obaid, the Head of Acute & Chronic Diseases Unit at Dubai Health Auth-ority's (DHA) Primary Health Care Sector, says seeing teenagers coming in as patients in her smoke cessation clinic is not uncommon.
"The patients we see are from the age group of 15 years to 50 years, but most are in the age group of 25 to 45 years and it's really unfortunate that they have already gone through so much in terms of their health."
She said those who suffer from the health consequences of smoking are mainly young adults, and in many cases they have been smoking for several years, starting from their teens. One student, who is working tirelessly to bring these numbers down, is Grade 9 Our Own English High School (Sharjah) pupil, Sreelakshmi V.
Last year, to mark World Anti-Tobacco Day on May 31, Sreelakshmi started her own campaign for creating awareness about the adverse effects of Tobacco usage.
"I conducted awareness programmes during many events in shopping malls for customers as well as staff and during many ?Iftar meets and school summer camps. I named my campaign 'Quit To Care.'
With support from friends and family, Sreelakshmi said she will continue to make small awareness speeches, pledge-taking, as well as posters and flyers about the dangers of smoking.
"I strongly believe we need to bring more awareness among the public. Through regular and continued awareness campaigns, and with the support of government and other organisations, I am confident we can fight this and eradicate this disease called "smoking". The student community should be more vigilant towards this cause too, as it affects us directly."
kelly@khaleejtimes.com