New anti-smoking campaign

“If you smoke, you’re a man,” a man says at a Turkish coffee house. And another adds: “All Turkish man smoke, because you’re being offered cigarettes all the time. Going around with a packet, that gives status.” A status which is today achieved with a cell-phone by many of the younger generation.

Among the Dutch, both men and women, about 33% smoke. Smoking among Turks stands at around 60% by the man, and 30% by the women (coming to a general average of 45%). In Turkey, only about 15% of women smoke.

Many times, smokers have no idea about the dangers of smoking, and the damage they cause, for example, to fetuses. STIVORO, an anti-smoking organization, has therefore decided to pay special attention to non-ethnic Dutch, and especially to Turks. They have put out 150 people to explain to the non-Dutch community about the dangers of smoking.

3200 non-ethnic Dutch have participated in STIVORO sponsored meetings so far, 2500 of which were Turkish. Several hundreds said they’ll stop smoking, though it’s unknown how many succeeded.