“Smoke-Free Thursday – Give Voice to the Breath of the Future!” Held with Powerful Messages from Young People

“Smoke-Free Thursday – Give Voice to the Breath of the Future!” organized jointly by Istanbul Nişantaşı University and the Youth Services Center, aimed to make young people’s views and proposals on tobacco control visible and strengthen awareness of smoke-free living.

Despite Türkiye’s achievements in tobacco control, rising tobacco use among young people and renewed public health concerns about passive smoking formed the event’s main agenda. The well-attended program featured sessions and talks enabling young people to evaluate tobacco control policies and develop awareness of smoke-free campuses and spaces.

At the event’s center was “The Missing Story of the Packs,” an exhibition curated by Dr. Burcu Kurtiş. Through alternative designs highlighting shortcomings in cigarette packaging health warnings, it explored tobacco’s effects on individual and public health. Passive smoking, the right to smoke-free living and protecting young people from tobacco-related health risks were prominent themes.

Moderator Eda Zaloğlu opened the program. Istanbul Nişantaşı University Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Uğur Yozgat then shared the university’s approach to supporting young people’s active engagement with societal issues and work contributing to society.

The event created a platform for young people to express views on tobacco control, raise awareness of passive smoking’s health effects and strengthen a culture of smoke-free living.