The rising popularity of
Shisha smoking among young people in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital territory
is alarming and constituting a major health risk to residents.
To help bring attention to this issue, Abuja’s leading Burger restaurant,
Oliver’s Burger on Monday in partnership with public strategy firm, Gatefield,
launched a campaign #PipeDown to inform young people about the health risks associated
with Shisha by crashing the price of Burgers for one week.
The #PipeDown campaign aims to educate people especially smokers of the
flavored tobacco product about the implications of the behavior on public
health and safety.
Shisha has been proven to be more harmful than regular cigarettes. Shisha
smokers including second-hand smokers are at the risk of cancer and other
respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
Oliver’s Burger rebranded its trucks and food packaging to reflect the
campaign. The restaurant also shared branded posters at their stands to buyers
carrying messages such as “smoking shisha for one hour is as bad as
smoking 100 cigarettes” and “smoking shisha in public places
endangers others”. The campaign’s Instagram page @pipedownNG, provides
users with the relevant information and facts on the dangers of Shisha smoke.
Oliver Naku, the CEO of the Burger restaurant said that the company felt
obliged to ensure that customers lead healthier lives. He stated “Its good to
let customers know that this not only endangers them, but the people who around
them.”
Maryam Hassan, a customer at the launch said: “I have never really been a
shisha smoker but I didn’t know it was this dangerous. This campaign will help
spread awareness on this issue because a lot of people are ignorant of the
dangers of Shisha.”
Michael Olaniyan, Technical Resource Officer of the Washington DC based Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids said “This campaign is very important…There is a lot of misinformation around Shisha. People think it’s trendy and healthy because of its deceptive flavours. Truth is that Shisha is as bad if not more dangerous than cigarettes. According to the World Health Organisation, one hour session of Shisha smoke is equivalent to smoking 100 cigarettes. People are also at risk of hepatitis when they share Shisha pipes.”
Recall that the Nigerian Tobacco Control Act 2015 and the recently approved tobacco control regulations 2019 prohibit the smoking of cigarettes in public places. However, this law is yet to be fully implemented as Shisha smoking in public places is still common in many public places in Abuja.
