The University of Al-Kitab, in cooperation with the Continuing Education Center, organized a scientific awareness seminar highlighting the dangers of smoking and methods of prevention, attended by a number of professors, students, and individuals interested in public health.
The seminar began with a minute of silence to honor the souls of Iraq’s martyrs, followed by the playing of the Iraqi national anthem. Dr. Hazzaa Dawood, the Scientific Assistant to the University President, then delivered a speech emphasizing the university’s commitment to its academic and humanitarian values, as well as its societal responsibility to combat harmful habits, foremost among them smoking. He added:
“On this day when the world celebrates the fight against the scourge of smoking, we at the University of Al-Kitab share with you a steadfast stance rooted in our academic and humanitarian values, based on our responsibility to protect individuals and society from practices that threaten public health and drain resources.”
He affirmed that since its establishment in 2012, the university has strived to maintain a smoke-free educational and healthy environment by implementing a series of effective measures to curb this phenomenon.
The seminar included a series of specialized scientific lectures, beginning with a lecture by Assistant Professor Dr. Waddah Mahdi Saleem, Head of the Physical Therapy Department at the university, in which he addressed the dangers of smoking to public health, with a focus on its link to cancerous diseases.
This was followed by a lecture by Dr. Saif Muneem Aziz, who discussed the effects of smoking on oral and dental health, while Dr. Yass Khidhr Bayiz presented a lecture on alternative treatments for smoking cessation, reviewing the most prominent modern methods used to help smokers quit this habit.
The seminar also featured awareness posters prepared by the university’s students and professors, which highlighted the health, psychological, and economic aspects of the harms of smoking and emphasized the importance of community awareness in prevention.
The seminar concluded with recommendations calling for the enhancement of awareness campaigns and the encouragement of youth initiatives supporting a smoke-free society.
