Free meals offered to university students quitting smoking

A university in central Turkey has offered free meals for a year to students who quit smoking. Housing more than 17,000 students, Amasya University found a clever way to encourage its students to keep away from smoking.

In collaboration with the university's Yeşilay (Green Crescent) club that delivers training sessions to students on the campus, the project kicked off with Chancellor Metin Orbay's initiatives. Already announced on social media, the project calls students to quit smoking as soon as possible while sharing the many hazards of smoking with informative presentations.

Two university students, Tarkan Güncü and Emre Ezgin, said that they quite like the idea and now are trying to quit. The students are asked to refer to the university's hospital where they are able to receive help from physicians to quit smoking. For the 2017-2018 academic year, students who kick the bad habit can enjoy free meals at the campus in return for their efforts.

Over the past few years, smoking bans have been expanded around Turkey. Additional smoking bans covering indoor areas, open spaces of public institutions and transportation have been implemented since 2008, which later went on to include bars, restaurants, coffeehouses and hookah cafes.

Turkey combats smoking very effectively with efforts to curb smoking by helping addicts at special centers or through a hotline. The Health Ministry continuously monitors the violations of the smoking ban in enclosed spaces of restaurants, cafes and eateries, especially in winter.

A World Health Organization (WHO) report reported Turkey is among the top-seven countries that have passed 100 percent smoke-free laws.