A quarter of Tunisia's population is smokers..and this is the annual death toll

The World Health Organization announced today, Friday, that Tunisia has among the highest rates of tobacco consumption in the Middle East, where the number of smoking includes a quarter of its population.

The representative of the organization in Tunisia, Ibrahim El-Zeik, said during a press conference today, in which anti-smoking organizations participated, that 25 percent of Tunisians are smokers, and that the death toll in the country due to smoking is 13,200 annually.

The organization's office in Tunisia revealed that 4.9 percent of young people between the ages of 13 and 15 smoke e-cigarettes.

The organization explained that there is a common belief that these cigarettes help to quit smoking is contrary to reality.

In its published data, the organization's office says that e-cigarettes do not contain tobacco, but they are dangerous and harmful to health, especially when used by adolescent children.

The WHO office also adds that the use of electronic nicotine delivery systems increases the risk of heart disease and lung disorders and poses significant risks to pregnant women who use them, and can harm the developing fetus.

Government plans to reduce the number of smokers in the country to 10 percent failed in a campaign launched by the authorities in 2009.

According to a study prepared by the Tunisian Ministry of Health in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program and the World Health Organization and published its results in 2021, smoking causes annual economic losses to Tunisia estimated at 2 billion Tunisian dinars, which represents 1.8 percent of the gross domestic product.

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