AGU students present results of research on smoking in GCC

More than 180 students of the College of Medicine & Medical Sciences at the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) participated in the Medical Scientific Research Exhibition for the fourth year students. 

President of AGU, Dr Khalid bin Abdulrahman Al-Ohaly, inaugurated the exhibition yesterday where 17 research teams presented their studies on the prevalence of smoking in the GCC countries.

Dr Al-Ohaly toured the exhibition to listen to a brief presentation by the students about their findings, whose results displayed in research posters.

“Students embarking on a field experience will create a new generation of doctors who are aware of the nature of health issues in the Gulf society. This will contribute to the development of doctors’ abilities and deepen their evidence-and-proof-based knowledge, which will, in turn, reflect the quality of health care,” Dr Al-Ohaly said.

He explained that these research papers are printed and issued annually in a book distributed to various official bodies, libraries and information centres so everyone can benefit from their results that are scientifically-based.

From his part, Prof. Afif Ben Salah, Chairman of Family and Community Medicine Department said that the phenomenon of smoking is increasing significantly in the Gulf and Arab society, which necessitates us to support a comprehensive preventive policy that includes economic, legislative and awareness fields and is based on employing innovative means.

The student researches, which were implemented by fourth-year students in a number of Gulf countries, provide a clear image of the necessity of cooperation and solidarity to create a public opinion that is aware of the dangers of smoking. Studies confirm that 60% of cancer cases are related to smoking and 90% of these cases and modern-day diseases such as heart diseases, artery and stroke can be avoided by quitting smoking and following good health habits such as healthy nutrition and exercise.

Moreover, the studies discussed various topics on the phenomenon of smoking, where students in Bahrain studied, “knowledge, attitudes and practices about smoking shisha in cafes,” and “the proportion of smoking and its impact on sports activity and quality of sleep in adults in the Capital Governorate.” In addition, they studied “the relation between passive smoking and asthma in children at health centres in Bahrain, “and the percentage of smoking among adults in Muharraq Governorate.”