AUD celebrates World No Tobacco Day

This awareness campaign, which took place on campus, was held in association with the American Hospital in Dubai. Two types of clinical testing took place: Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) which tests the function of the lungs, and Pulse Oximetry, which tests the oxygen saturation present in the blood.

Nelly Halabi, Director of the Health Center at AUD, commented: "The World No Tobacco Day encourages countries and governments to work towards strict regulations of tobacco products. Our main aim is to raise awareness about the Cigarette Smoke Chemical components and its lethal effects and the existence of the wide variety of deadly tobacco products. We also hope to help smokers quit. "

Various activities which took place during the event included a plan for making AUD a smoke free campus, from 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm, and an arm wrestling competition between smokers and nonsmokers. 25 smokers responded to the volunteers and replaced their cigarettes with a nicotine gum, offered by the American Hospital, while a large number of students, staff and faculty members were tested for lungs function and Oxygen saturation blood.

Ronn Delfin, Pulmonary Care Clinical Coordinator at the American Hospital in Dubai, commented: "The pulmonary function test (PFT) is clinical test performed to identify the early signs of lung disease. The test result is a very important indicator for the prevention and treatment of the disease especially on patients who are exposed to cigarette smoking. As we all know, cigarette smoking and nicotine dependency is one leading cause of respiratory diseases. It can be a chronic illness and it could be potentially lethal. The World No Tobacco Day is a wonderful way to campaign and promote smoking cessation program. It brings awareness and education to young people who are at greater risks to lung diseases. We hope that this message will globally reach young people so they can make a conscientious decision of living a healthy life."