Photo by Dmitry Khegai©
Almaty women were offered to exchanged their cigarettes for flowers, Tengrinews.kz reports. Anti-Smoking Women campaign was arranged to coincide with the International Women’s Day by the students of Kazakhstan branch of Moscow Finance and Industry University (MFIUSynergy ). The organizers of the campaign brought about 100 tulips to Almaty’s Arbat (pedestrian part of Zhibek Zholy Street between Furmanov Street to Abylay Khan prospect.) They gave flowers as a present to women in exchange for their cigarettes and their promise to give up smoking. The whole city district knew about the campaign after just half an hour. Not only women who smoked approached the organizers to exchange cigarettes for flowers. Almaty men also tried to exchange tobacco for tulips, however, the organizers took their cigarettes but gave them no flowers. There were not many smoking women and organizers had to hunt for them in the street. Not all of them agreed for an exchange. Some of the women flatly stated: “I smoke and I am not going to give up this habit.” Others, on the contrary, gave their cigarettes away gladly saying that they thinking about getting rid of the bad habit long time ago. It is difficult to say if this campaign was effective and if the women would keep their promise. “I am sure that everything depends on the particular girls,” Indira Seitova, one of the campaign’s organizers said. The students hope that this event will draw society’s attention to the problem of smoking. More than 27% of population (about 4.2 million people) smoke cigarettes in Kazakhstan according to the Synergy University’s data. Experts say that the tobacco epidemic along with aggressive tobacco advertisement facilitate the further spread. Men aged 30-55 and women of reproductive age constitute the majority of the smokers.
Almaty women were offered to exchanged their cigarettes for flowers, Tengrinews.kz reports. Anti-Smoking Women campaign was arranged to coincide with the International Women’s Day by the students of Kazakhstan branch of Moscow Finance and Industry University (MFIUSynergy ).
The organizers of the campaign brought about 100 tulips to Almaty’s Arbat (pedestrian part of Zhibek Zholy Street between Furmanov Street to Abylay Khan prospect.) They gave flowers as a present to women in exchange for their cigarettes and their promise to give up smoking. The whole city district knew about the campaign after just half an hour. Not only women who smoked approached the organizers to exchange cigarettes for flowers. Almaty men also tried to exchange tobacco for tulips, however, the organizers took their cigarettes but gave them no flowers.
There were not many smoking women and organizers had to hunt for them in the street. Not all of them agreed for an exchange. Some of the women flatly stated: “I smoke and I am not going to give up this habit.” Others, on the contrary, gave their cigarettes away gladly saying that they thinking about getting rid of the bad habit long time ago.
It is difficult to say if this campaign was effective and if the women would keep their promise. “I am sure that everything depends on the particular girls,” Indira Seitova, one of the campaign’s organizers said. The students hope that this event will draw society’s attention to the problem of smoking.
More than 27% of population (about 4.2 million people) smoke cigarettes in Kazakhstan according to the Synergy University’s data. Experts say that the tobacco epidemic along with aggressive tobacco advertisement facilitate the further spread. Men aged 30-55 and women of reproductive age constitute the majority of the smokers.