29 October 2012 Belgrade, Serbia [Zorica Plavši?, tedNEWS] The Health department of South-East European Union Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SEEUC) together with NGO Life and Health, organised a two-day educative seminar for pastors and instructors of Health clubs held on 30th of September and 1st of October 2012 in Belgrade, Serbia.
Smoking is great public and health problem in Serbia. The Government and the Ministry of Health have organised very successful campaigns since 2003, and the number of smokers decreased 7% from 2000 to 2006, but figures are still high, especially among women.
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The aim of this seminar was to teach every church how to become a place where smokers who want to quit can get advice, support or assistance. Each church that has a Health club can organise smoking cessation seminars based on the programme ‘QUIT NOW 7 steps to freedom’.
The seminar, where 150 participants were present, was opened by Pr ?or?e Trajkovski, President of SEEUC. He invited everybody present to use the opportunities they have at this moment in the best possible way. The guest speaker was Mr Richard Willis, the Executive Director of the UK National Committee for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Dependency (UK NCPA) and a member of the executive committee and Associate Director of the International Committee for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Dependence (ICPA) based in Washington DC. He unselfishly shared his knowledge and experience with implementation of smoking cessation programmes. Mr Willis also challenged and inspired the participants to work with smokers even if they are not physicians, medical technicians or nurses. During the workshops he gave practical advice on how to cope with stress and withdrawal crisis.
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Among other presenters were: Zorica Plavši? MD, PhD, MPH, who had a presentation about smoking pandemics, situation in Serbia and tobacco smoking as risk factor for health disorders; Branislav Ha?ko MD, PhD, who talked about the partnership between health clubs and local community; and Petar Borovi? MD held a presentation about positive effects after smoking cessation.
Up-to-date experiences with the work of Health clubs were presented by Vlado Havran, Health Ministries Director at the SEEUC.
During the workshops participants got practical instructions how to implement programme ‘QUIT NOW 7 steps to freedom’ in their churches and Health clubs. Each participant received a CD with educative materials and the book Enjoy without tobacco smoke, written by Zorica Plavši?.
We thank International Committee for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Dependence (ICPA), especially Peter Landless, for their support and help and we believe that the results of this seminar will be visible very soon. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
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