The award ceremony of the poster competition on "Smoking and Heart Health", in cooperation with the Turkish Respiratory Research Association (TÜSAD) and Gazi University Faculty of Fine Arts, was held at the GU Faculty of Medicine 75th Year Conference Hall.
Speaking at the opening of the ceremony, TÜSAD Tobacco Working Group President Prof. Dr. Nazmi Bilir said that man's greatest enemy is smoking, and that approximately 7 million people in the world die every year as a result of smoking-related diseases.
“One person dies every 5 minutes in our country, that is 300 people a day.”
Emphasizing that 120 thousand people die annually due to smoking in Turkey, Bilir said, "In our country, one person dies every 5 minutes, that is, 300 people a day." Bilir pointed out that smoking has serious economic consequences in addition to its health aspect, and shared the following information:
“More than 18 million people smoke in Turkey. These people spend 85 billion lira every year to buy cigarettes. This money is spent on getting sick. From an individual perspective, the problem is huge. Because when smoking 20 cigarettes a day for 20 years, a person spends approximately 100 thousand lira. According to records, 17 thousand people died in the earthquake that took place 20 years ago. In the same year, 100 thousand people died due to smoking. "20 years have passed since the earthquake and there was no earthquake of that magnitude, but 100 thousand people continued to die every year due to smoking."
Prof. Dr. Bilir underlined that smoking must be stopped so that smoking does not take more lives, and that awareness raising efforts must continue without losing momentum.
“The same message should be sent to the same target audience”
Hacı Bayram Veli University Faculty of Fine Arts Lecturer Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Demir, on the other hand, emphasized that she is also an anti-smoking person and expressed that she is proud to be involved in the work carried out to increase social awareness.
Demir stated that they will continue to be involved in such studies and made the assessment that the majority of the society is passive smoker even if they cannot be active users. Demir said, “When I went to the doctor, 'Do you smoke?' When asked, I say that I am a passive smoker. Because, let's face it, wherever we go, there is always someone smoking next to us," he said.
Underlining that efforts must continue to change this, Demir said: “For this, the same message should be sent to the same target audience. "The same message should be given everywhere, including social media and rackets at bus stops, maybe sweet, maybe harsh, maybe making you laugh, maybe making you think," he said.
“Electronic cigarettes threaten health as much as cigarettes.”
Hacı Bayram Veli University Faculty of Fine Arts Dean Prof. Dr. Selçuk Şener also expressed his happiness in being a part of the organization, which also includes his universities. Stating that studies were carried out under the chairmanship of the Visual Communication Design Department, Şener said that valuable works were produced.
Gazi University Faculty of Medicine Dean Prof. Dr. Mehmet Sadık Demirsoy drew attention to electronic cigarettes and similar products, the frequency of which has increased in recent years.
Demirsoy underlined that these products threaten health as much as cigarettes.
He also made statements about the effect of smoking on genetics.
“Maybe it will destroy humanity after 300-500 years”
Demirsoy said, “When you smoke, the poison of the cigarette affects reproductive cells such as sperm and turns oncogenes. So, it's causing your grandchildren's grandchildren to get cancer. This is a situation that has been revealed in the last 2 years. This accumulated effect will perhaps destroy humanity after 300-500 years. “We are in such great danger,” he warned.
Prizes were given to the winners of the poster competition
Within the scope of "Smoking and heart disease", the theme of this year's World No Tobacco Day of the World Health Organization (WHO), awards were given to the winners of the poster competition held in cooperation with the Turkish Respiratory Research Association and Gazi University Faculty of Fine Arts.
70 contestants who met the conditions participated in the competition, which was open to students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs at Fine Arts Faculties and members of the Turkish Respiratory Research Association, with 102 works.
The evaluation of the works was made by the Selection Committee consisting of faculty members from TÜSAD and the Faculty of Fine Arts. At the ceremony, awards were presented to the top three students in the competition, as well as to the owners of 6 honorable mentions and 8 works worthy of exhibition.
Source: AA
