1.3% of JHS Students Hang on Shisha – Report

Health News Friday, May 31, 2019

Source: clbadfmonline.com

2019-05-31

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has decried the increasing use of chisha among adolescents in the country, as it has emerged that 1.3% of Ghana's junior high school students smoke it.

Shisha is an instrument with one or more branches for spraying and smoking flavored tobacco, or sometimes cannabis or opium, whose vapor or smoke pbades into a water basin often based of glbad before inhalation. It consists of a tobacco head or tobacco in which tobacco, a body, a bowl of water, a pipe and a mouthpiece are placed.

Although public smoking is illegal in Ghana, pubs and drink bar operators serve hookahs at a cost as part of the services provided.

"We saw that 1.3 percent of junior high school students now use shisha," said Dr. Kyei Faried, as the world commemorated World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) on May 31.

Dr. Kyei said Friday that shisha was attractive with beautiful perfumes and sweet substances encrusted in tobacco, which gave a false impression that the substance was good.

He added that the manufacturers of the product have "increased nicotine in shisha tobacco about three times more than [than that of normal tobacco]. This means that tobacco addiction is very strong when you use shisha, "

He therefore advises young people not to consume any substance.

The researchers estimate that smoking a shisha for one hour equals 100 sticks of cigarette. The deep breaths and extended smoking time badociated with shisha increase the risk of death of users.

This year's World No Tobacco Day aims to raise public awareness of the harmful and deadly effects of smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke and to discourage smoking in all its forms.

The theme of World No Tobacco Day 2019 is "Tobacco and Lung Health".

The campaign aims to raise awareness about the negative impact of tobacco on respiratory health, from cancer to chronic respiratory diseases, as well as the fundamental role that the lungs play for the health and well-being of all.

The campaign also serves as a call to action, advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco use and involving multi-sectoral stakeholders in tobacco control.