Tobacco Use Among Students Aged 13–15 Years—Kurdistan Region, Iraq, 2005

Approximately 20% of Kurdistan students aged 13–15 years, currently used any tobacco product, with the rate for males (29%) significantly higher than that for females (10%).
Male students (21%) were significantly more likely to smoke cigarettes than female students (2%), but there was no significant difference among male students’ (14%) and female students’ (9 percent) use of tobacco products other than cigarettes (primarily Shisha — flavored tobacco smoked in hookah pipes).
An estimated 12% of Kurdistan students aged 13–15 years were current cigarette smokers.
More than 11% of Kurdistan students were current users of a tobacco product other than cigarettes.
Very few students were using both cigarettes and other tobacco products at the same time.
More than 27% of Kurdistan students had ever smoked cigarettes. Boys (42%) were significantly more likely than girls (11%) to have ever smoked.
The proportion of any female never smokers likely to initiate smoking (11%) was significantly higher than the current female student smoking rate (2%).
While tobacco control efforts in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq face a number of challenges, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has established a tobacco control unit making tobacco control a priority among healthcare workers and youth. Kurdistan law bans smoking in all government buildings, including schools and administrative office buildings of the MOH and Ministry of Education.