The Scientific Affairs Department at the College of Nursing, University of Baghdad, in collaboration with the Model Health Center in Bab al-Ma’azim, organized an awareness workshop for fourth-year students on the harms of tobacco and the prevention of drug abuse. The workshop, held on April 16, 2026, featured presentations by Assistant Professor Dr. Aysan Kamal and Dr. Kholoud Saeed from the Model Health Center
The workshop aimed to protect future generations and promote sustainable health. Its primary objective was to reduce tobacco- and drug-related illnesses and deaths by raising awareness of their deadly health risks, such as cancer and heart and lung diseases, and encouraging smokers to quit immediately. The speakers also sought to promote a healthy lifestyle and establish smoke-free environments to protect non-smokers from the harms of secondhand smoke, thereby contributing to reducing premature mortality rates and achieving a sustainable societal vision
The workshop included sessions focused on primary prevention, particularly for youth and adolescents, and on educating participants about the specific risks of e-cigarettes and drugs and their effects on the respiratory and nervous systems. The workshop also emphasized the need to provide behavioral and therapeutic support to smokers and to raise public awareness of the negative economic and environmental impacts of these scourges, while stressing the protection of vulnerable groups such as women from secondhand smoke
The workshop concluded with a set of practical recommendations, including launching comprehensive awareness campaigns targeting adolescents and changing daily behaviors through exercise to reduce stress and boredom. The workshop also called for strengthening smoking bans in public places, emphasizing the importance of choosing good friends, and fostering cultural awareness regarding the risks of drugs on the mind and , as well as the need to support users and help them seek treatment rather than subjecting them to social stigma, to ensure their return as productive members of society
These activities are part of the college’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 3 on good health and well-being by reducing rates of substance abuse and chronic diseases, and Goal 4 on quality education by equipping students with health knowledge that enables them to drive positive change in their communities
