Prevent the young Lebanese from the first cigarette is one of TFI association’s (Tobacco Free Initiative) main aims since it has been fighting smoking for eight years in the Cedar land. The main goal of this NGO created by the family of Antoine Keyrouz, a lawyer who passed away in June 1999 because of a lung cancer, is to protect the young generation from tobacco devastation. This association, which includes businessmen and women, doctors, lawyers, psychologists, and journalists, has just been rewarded by the WHO for its struggle against smoking in the Middle East.

25% of the young 12 to 16 year-old Lebanese smoked a cigarette in 2007 and 10% of them became smokers. This rate was revealed last year by a study made by the NGO TFI¹.

These numbers declined a little bit compared to the same study made between 2001 and 2004 which showed an average of 12.8 % of young smokers. Nevertheless, it is really urgent to change the ideas of the young Lebanese concerning smoking. Anyway, this is the approach of whole team of TFI, who was rewarded by the WHO for his fight against smoking in the Middle East.

“The cigarette in Lebanon is associated to the idea of liberty and modernity in the publicities”, explained Joe Souaid, the executive director of TFI association. In fact, the advertizing campaigns spread all over the Lebanese roads encourage you to think that smoking is “cool”. So TFI’s purpose is to prove the contrary to the young Lebanese who are not yet influenced by the Occident tendency where smoking is badly seen. The cigarette values declined there, in real life as well as in movies… or even in comic books: few years ago, the famous cigarette hanging in the hero Lucky Luke’s lips was even eliminated, because it is considered as a bad example for the young readers. Lebanon didn’t reach such kind of initiative yet. So to target the young and make them change their opinion about the cigarette, TFI is going to reach them, in the place where they spend most of their time: at school. Since its establishment, the NGO has been in contact with more than fifty schools (public or private, non-religious or religious, and from all confessions), and therefore, it reached more than 8000 12 to 16 year-old students from all religions and social backgrounds. “Our purpose is to let the young people understand the commercials tricks because they urge them to smoke”, continued Joe Souaid. “We explain the goal of the tobacco industries which really need them in order to promote their productions and all they do is use the young people. The example of the new "cigarettes candies", flavored with vanilla or fruits just like candies, reveals the industries will to target the youngest smokers.”

A network financed by the World Bank

To change the young people’s opinions about smoking, the NGO organizes during its school interventions, meetings with celebrities that students can identify themselves with:
TFI benefited from the cooperation of some sport champions such as Sabah Khoury or Rony Fahed or Jihad el Murr, comedians such as George Khabbaz, Miss Liban’s stars such as Marie-Josée Hnein and Annabelle Hilal, Star Academy’s stars such as Bruno Tabbal and TV stars such as Rania Baroud, Serge Zarka, or Rita Khoury.

“However, the most effective thing is to push the young people to be in charge of the message transmission and the awareness campaign”, said Joe Souaid. That is why, in 2008, TFI created, through eighteen schools, a whole club network ‘‘Prévention tabac’’ (Tobacco prevention): these clubs are animated by the students themselves who organize debates, conferences, competitions, concerts, exhibitions… to spread the fight against smoking during the academic year. The network was financed by the World Bank.

A Lebanese specificity, or at least an oriental one, the cigarette is not the only plague as far as smoking is concerned: the hookah (narguileh) is also part of the dangers that TFI struggles against. The success of the “chicha” among the youth is more important than the cigarette: almost 30% of the young Lebanese smoke hookah (while 50% declared that they tried it), according to the TFI study. The numbers are clearly increasing compared to a similar study made by the NGO between 2001 and 2004 which indicated in that period of time that 25% are hookah young smokers.

1 - Study made in 2007 by the association on 3300 12 to 16 year-old students in Beirut and Mont Lebanon.