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Ogun govt concerned over smoking among secondary school students
By Modupe shodeinde
The Ogun State government has expressed concern over the rate of smoking among secondary school students in the state.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker, on Monday, said the government has intensified campaigns against drug abuse and cigarette smoking by students of public and private schools in the state.
She said this while addressing newsmen to kick-start an awareness campaign against smoking to mark the 2021 World No Tobacco Day in Abeokuta, the state capital.
According to her, 3,200 young children and teenagers under 18 years, smoked their first cigarette while more than 2,100 young adults became daily smokers.
The commissioner said the Ministry of Health through the state Drug Control Committee had been engaging secondary school students across the state to discourage them from smoking and the use of illicit drugs.
Adding that part of the efforts of the state to curb smoking and drug abuse among students was the establishment of Drug free clubs in both public and private secondary schools.
She said cigarette smoke contained more than 7,000 harmful chemicals, “70 of which are known to cause cancer.”
Coker said, “Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the world. It kills more people than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. On the average, the life expectancy of a smoker is 10 years less than a non-smoker.”
