- Title: LIBYA: Tripoli marathon runners take part in anti-smoking campaign
- Date: 5th May 2014
- Summary: TRIPOLI, LIBYA (RECENT - MAY 1, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RUNNERS STARTING MARATHON SIGN READING (Arabic) "STOP TO START. THE 11TH INTERNATIONAL MARATHON TO COMBAT SMOKING." VARIOUS OF MARATHON IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF MARATHON ORGANISING COMMITTEE, MOHAMMD AL-RAKBY, SAYING: "This is a campaign to combat smoking, which is harmful to people's health, I th
- Embargoed: 20th May 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Libya
- Country: Libya
- Topics: Health,Sports
- Reuters ID: LVAECY1RGJ9MDF1XADNCE757TJAP
- Story Text: Runners in Libya's capital Tripoli took part in a marathon on Thursday (May 1) as part of an anti-smoking campaign.
The campaign, called 'Stop to Start', hopes to raise awareness about the dangers of smoking and promote fitness and exercise.
The head of the marathon organising committee, Mohammd al-Rakby, said that promoting exercise, especially among young people, is the most effective way to combat smoking.
"This is a campaign to combat smoking, which is harmful to people's health, I think we agree and everybody tries to combat it, so we combat smoking in a special way, we call on people to start exercising, and we urge young people to exercise because exercise is the best way to combat smoking. Smoking tobacco could lead to smoking drugs," he said As part of the campaign, children also carried flowers through the streets of Tripoli, speaking to people about the dangers of smoking. If smokers agreed to hand over their cigarettes, they were given a flower in return.
Mohammed Maghrabi, an organiser with the anti-smoking campaign, said that their aim was to persuade people to give up smoking by highlighting the health dangers.
"We came here to give people in coffee shops and pedestrians advice, to try to persuade them to quit smoking since it is harmful to their health, we also try to convince them to put their packs of cigarette in the trash box, and give them flowers in return," he said.
Some smokers reacted positively to the campaign and gladly handed over their cigarettes.
"I intend to stop smoking, when a man reaches 40, he should quit smoking. I am planning to quit smoking and start exercising, God help me," said smoker Hatim Abdullah.
A 1989 decree aimed to ban smoking in public places, although no laws have since been passed to enforce a ban and little data is available on the number of smokers and smoking-related diseases.
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