The Management Center of Seminaries in the Country announced the existence of more than 9,000 religious students in various projects, such as Hijrat, Amin, Bayyinat, and Nasim-e-Rahmat. According to this center, to participate in the anti-smoking goals of the Iranian And-Tobacco Association (IATA), these religious students are ready to create and promote anti-smoking culture in the real and virtual space throughout the country.
According to IATA’s Public Relations, this meeting was attended by the following people: Mr. Adeli, the Chairman of IATA’s Board of Directors in Qom Province, Hujjat-al-Islam Mollanoori, the Deputy of Propaganda and Cultural Affairs of Seminaries, Hujjat-al-Islam Ashtiyani, the Deputy of Social Harms and Specialized Propaganda, Mohammad-Reza Masjedi, IATA’s Secretary-General, Hujjat-al-Islam Robatian, the Director of IATA’s Unit for Communication with the Seminary, Mohammad Afigol, IATA’s Executive Director in Qom Province, and other managers of this non-governmental organization. This meeting was held in the Management Center of Seminaries to recognize and examine the capacities of the two sides for more cooperation.
At the beginning of the meeting, Hujjat-al-Islam Mollanoori, noting that seminaries are ready for operational cooperation in cyberspace and real-life to combat tobacco, said, ‘Tobacco is a gateway to addiction and delinquency and causes countless physical harms to society. Moreover, the costs of smoking and treating the diseases caused by it, which are very high, are provided from the general budget, and given the current state of the country’s economy, it is necessary to take effective solutions to solve this problem.
Hujjat-al-Islam Mollanoori continued, °Our enemies, especially the United States, martyred many young people during the eight years of the war with Iraq, and now they are continuing this process by exporting cigarettes and spreading tobacco-induced diseases. Therefore, we must pay more attention to the cultural dimensions of this issue than other dimensions, and think of a way out of the current situation? According to Mollanoori, “Tobacco use and addiction are among of the most important problems in the country. If these problems are prioritized correctly and in a timely manner, they can be resolved sooner and better.” Hujjat-al-islam Mollanoori announced the exigence of more than 9,000 religious students in various projects, such as Hijrat, Amin, Bayyinat, and Nasim-e-Rahmat, and added, ‘This center is ready to create and promote anti-smoking culture in the real and virtual space throughout the country? According to him, “More than 8,000 of these students are active in cyberspace, which in the current situation of the corona epidemic, is a very good opportunity for culture-building regarding tobacco prevention and control.”
The need to accelerate the implementation of anti-smoking projects in the face of the corona epidemic In the continuation of the meeting, IATA’s Secretary-General referred to the Memorandum of Understanding between seminaries and the NGO and said that the delay in the start of such cooperation was in part due to the outbreak of COVID-19, while such activities need to be implemented quickly to be more effective. According to him, °As you know, smoking and especially hookah use is among the main causes of the prevalence of COVID-19. Therefore, an effective step can be taken during the corona pandemic by holding purposeful and comprehensive training and information workshops and accelerating their implementation.”
Masjedi mentioned Qom province as an important base for training expert forces in Iran and the world and added, ‘Qom province, with its remarkable capacities such as the Holy Mosque of jamkaran and the Holy Shrine of Hazrat Ma’soomeh, has a special status among the people. Therefore, these religious and scientific bases should be considered as a potential capacity to promote anti-smoking culture.”
Referring to the introduction of Qom as a tobacco-free religious city by the World Health Organization, Masjedi stated, ‘and-smoking activities should be carried out in this religious city more than before because this city has been introduced as a tobacco-free religious city by the World Health Organization?
Referring to the readiness of the municipality, governorship, and governmental institutions in Qom province, Masjedi continued, “Executive activities in areas such as propaganda, education, and research should be done property and existing opportunities should be used in the best way? He called face-to-face advertising more effective than other methods and stressed, ‘To promote and-smoking culture among the people, vie must pay attention to face-to-face advertising more than other methods. in this way, this culture can be institutionalized in society? According to Masjedi, tobacco is the world’s third most lucrative industry, with 87 percent of the industry owned by Americans. Masjedi said, ‘Our enemies want to harm the youth and the people with all their might, and they want to weaken the institution of family by spreading hookah use in public places, especially among girls, in addition to harming their health? ‘Eighty-two percent of deaths are due to non-communicable diseases, and smoking is a major cause of such deaths. Thus, the tobacco industry is expanding today in the form of soft warfare, and we can resist this conspiracy of enemies by implementing cultural programs”, Masjedi concluded.
The resolutions of the meeting were as follows:
· Establishment of a special office in seminaries to fight tobacco;
· Serious attention to the implementation of the tobacco-free religious city project;
· Giving priority to dissertations in the field of tobacco and narcotics;
· Generating appropriate content regarding tobacco prevention and publishing it in cyberspace;
· Production of educational programs for children and adolescents;
· Using the capacities of 9,000 religious students in the form of Amin, Hijrat, Bayyinat, and Nasim-e-Rahmat projects to fight tobacco; and
· Holding training courses for religious students as educators in the field of smoking prevention and control.
