Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWRs)

Tobacco Use Among Students Aged 13–15 Years—Kurdistan Region, Iraq, 2005

Approximately 20% of Kurdistan students aged 13–15 years, currently used any tobacco product, with the rate for males (29%) significantly higher than that for females (10%).
Male students (21%) were significantly more likely to smoke cigarettes than female students (2%), but there was no significant difference among male students’ (14%) and female students’ (9 percent) use of tobacco products other than cigarettes (primarily Shisha — flavored tobacco smoked in hookah pipes).
An estimated 12% of Kurdistan students aged 13–15 years were current cigarette smokers.
More than 11% of Kurdistan students were current users of a tobacco product other than cigarettes.
Very few students were using both cigarettes and other tobacco products at the same time.
More than 27% of Kurdistan students had ever smoked cigarettes. Boys (42%) were significantly more likely than girls (11%) to have ever smoked.
The proportion of any female never smokers likely to initiate smoking (11%) was significantly higher than the current female student smoking rate (2%).
While tobacco control efforts in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq face a number of challenges, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has established a tobacco control unit making tobacco control a priority among healthcare workers and youth. Kurdistan law bans smoking in all government buildings, including schools and administrative office buildings of the MOH and Ministry of Education.

Page last reviewed 02/28/2007
Page last modified 02/28/2007