ABU DHABI // It started with smoking a cigarette or two with friends after school, but by the time Abdulla was at university he was totally addicted.
At the peak of his habit he was on 10 cigarettes a day as well as regularly smoking shisha. The 31-year-old Emirati, however, is on a mission to quit the habit.
“I have taught myself not to make smoking a habit in my daily life, although I have only been successful at reducing my daily intake of cigarettes.
“My major achievement is that I stopped doing shisha,” said Abdulla, who works in the marine industry in Dubai.
Abdulla said he went through a stage of denial and tried to persuade himself that he was not addicted to tobacco. He believed he could quit at any time and so did not realise the extent of his addiction.
But after getting married and starting a family, he realised that he needed to give up.
“By smoking, I am feeding myself poison created to drug our bodies into relieving stress and, by far, it has more cons than pros,” he said. “I like to help myself to quit smoking, and with my new exercise routines I have encouraged myself to stay away from smoking.”
Abdulla is one of many young Emirati men who are choosing to quit tobacco.
“They are self referring and this is an encouraging sign. There is an increased awareness among Emiratis,” said Dr Abdul Alkaddour, the head of preventive cardiology at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi.
Some of the Emiratis were showing signs of smoking-related disease while others had come “because they heard their colleagues had had a successful experience with us and they are seeking help”, he said.
Dr Alkaddour said most Emiratis trying to stop smoking were between the ages of 20 and 40.
“Many of these are young men and their wives may be expecting a child or a family member may have died, motivating them to quit,” he said.
Dr Mohamed Rafique, head of pulmonology and sleep medicine at Prime Healthcare Group, had noticed that smokers whose habit was making them ill were often the most keen to give up.
“If you can speak to them at that point and explain why smoking is bad for them you may be successful in helping them to quit,” said Dr Rafique.
Parents of children with lung complaints, such as asthma, were often among those most eager to quit.
“Also, when a new baby is coming into the family, there are many people who feel guilty if they smoke around a child,” Dr Rafique said.
He believed that help from the family increased the chances of someone sticking to their decision to quit the habit.
“We advise families to avoid stressful situations that will make the person go back to the habit. If someone can’t stop smoking completely, they can reduce the amount they smoke. This in itself is a big achievement,” he said.
arizvi2@thenational.ae