“Don’t Be An Addict, Be Free”

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) supported conferences and cartoon exhibitions about the fight against bad habits, especially the use of tobacco and drugs, at universities in Baku.

As part of the project implemented by TİKA and the Association for Combating Bad Habits, which carries out the activities of Turkish Green Crescent Society in Azerbaijan, the conference “Don’t Be An Addict, Be Free” was organized at Khazar University and Azerbaijan University with the participation of psychologists and healthcare providers invited from Turkey and specialists from the Modern Psychology Center in Baku.

Ege University faculty member Prof. Hakan Coşkunol gave a presentation to young people about the psychological and social dimensions of addictions and bad habits, and the activities to be carried out to combat bad habits. In his speech, Coşkunol stated that the increase in smoking and drinking among young people leads to an increase in the substance abuse. He emphasized that in order to reduce the rate of substance abuse, the rates of smoking and drinking among young people must be reduced, and young people must be educated on this issue.

In his speech, World Health Organization Non-communicable Diseases Program Manager Prof. Toker Erdüger underlined that addictions such as nicotine, alcohol, and drug addictions are the greatest threats to human health. Stressing that traditions and customs protect young Azerbaijani people from nicotine and drug addiction, Erdüger also said that the global tobacco industry is active in the country.

In the conferences, Director of the Modern Psychology Center Aida Nebiyeva gave a presentation titled “Addiction Psychology” about technology addiction, which is one of the bad habits.

As part of the conferences, exhibitions of cartoons about addictions and bad habits were also held. Students were greatly interested in the cartoons about various types of addiction, especially nicotine, drug, alcohol, gambling, and technology addiction.

As part of the conference, surveys were conducted among students about nicotine and drug addiction, and informative brochures were distributed.