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"No smoking" film festival held in Baku

29 May 2013 16:19 (UTC+04:00)
"No smoking" film festival held in Baku

By Nigar Orujova

A gala night dedicated to the "No smoking" movie festival has been held in the Azerbaijani capital Baku with the participation of well-known art and culture figures. The event was hosted by popular broadcaster Usniya Maharramova.

The head of the festival, Huseyn Javadzade, said the festival is a very important event in terms of the fight against smoking.

"Instead of the planned 25 films, the festival presented 47 films, which indicates high interest in the project. The aim of the 'No smoking' film festival is to create motivation of the population to quit smoking, inform and support the people who are ready to break their bad habit," Javadzade said.

Well-known people who attended the event also spoke about the harm of smoking and called on people to give up this habit.

Works of 16 young movie directors who reached the final were shown to the attendees. The winners' awarding ceremony will be held on World No-Tobacco Day, May 31.

The screening of the films was followed by a concert.

The "No smoking" film festival is the first such festival in Azerbaijan, and it was organized by the youth association Addim and the public health and reforms center of the Health Ministry.

Every year, on May 31, the World Health Organization and its partners mark World No Tobacco Day, highlighting the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption. Tobacco kills nearly 6 million people each year, of whom more than 600,000 are non-smokers dying from breathing second-hand smoke.

The WHO cites some 25 diseases which worsen under tobacco influence, including cardiac, lung trouble, and cancer.

The theme of this year's campaign is "Ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship".

The increasing percentage of smokers in Azerbaijan necessitates adopting a law to restrict smoking, which was under development for almost three years and would ban smoking in closed premises.

According to researches, 45 percent of men in Azerbaijan smoke. Moreover, the number of women smokers has increased -- from 3 percent six to seven years ago to the current 10 percent. In addition, smoking is widespread among teenagers.

The anti-smoking bill also envisages broadcasting educational and news programs for no less than 90 minutes on every TV channel over a month. They may include social advertisement, as well as promotional materials against tobacco smoking. Also, such footage will be aired on radio stations.

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