Officials and participants at a training workshop by Tobacco Control Centre.
Doha: Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Tobacco Control Centre has organised a training workshop on how to reduce the prevalence of tobacco use and smoking among school students in Qatar.
The training programme was held as part of the centre’s efforts to prevent tobacco smoking in educational institutions and in the community in general and was dedicated to psychological counsellors, social workers, and nursing staff from several preparatory and secondary public schools across Qatar.
The workshop was held at the La Cigale Hotel in the presence of Dr. Rayana Bou Haka, the WHO’s Representative to Qatar; Sheikh Dr. Mohamed bin Hamad Al Thani, Director of the Public Health Department at the Ministry of Public Health; Dr. Kholoud Al Mutawa, Head of the Non-communicable Diseases Department at the Ministry of Public Health; and Fatima Al Obaidli, Head of Activities and Programs Department at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
Dr. Ahmad Al Mulla, Head of HMC’s Tobacco Control Centre, said the workshop was aimed at providing participants with the necessary information and skills to enable them to effectively contribute to combating smoking and tobacco use in schools in Qatar and to help students who have fallen into the habit of smoking to quit. The latest studies showed that for many people, the age for starting smoking ranged from 12 to 15 years.
The workshop included lectures addressing several topics, such as the types of tobacco use and its prevalence in Qatar, the health effects of cigarette smoking and the use of tobacco products, the physiology of tobacco addiction, and the role of schools in preventing and limiting the spread of smoking.
The workshop also offered a good opportunity to dispel misconceptions about smoking and tobacco use and to raise awareness among participants on how to deal with students who smoke and the factors affecting smoking initiation among students.
