ARMENIANS DO NOT HURRY TO QUIT SMOKING

Armenpress
Oct 18 2006

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 18, ARMENPRESS: David Petrosian, the chief manager
of a special center established last year in Yerevan to help people
wishing to quit smoking, said to Armenpress his country fellows were
not in a hurry to try do quit smoking.

Smokers wishing to give up this pernicious habit have to pay $50 to
doctors of this special anti-smoking center who offer medications
and psychological consultations to help quit smoking.

Petrosian said overall 17 people have asked for the center’s help in
12 months, but 2 people began smoking again, but he argued this did
not mean that Armenians were reluctant to quit smoking.

"We have to step up drastically the anti-smoking campaign to see
progress,’ he said The treatment of each patient here depends on
the extent of their tobacco dependence. David Petrosian cited some
figures saying that this sort of centers have helped to reduce the
number of smokers in the USA and some European countries from 70 to
25 percent. The center has a dietitian to consult people fearing they
may put on weight after quitting smoking.

The World Health Organization estimates that 63.7 percent of Armenian
men are smokers – the highest rate in Europe. By comparison, an
estimated 60 percent of men in neighboring Georgia are smokers and
31.2 percent in Azerbaijan.