ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Nearly half of Kurds aged 15 to 25 smoke, according to a recent survey. The prevalence of smoking is as high as 43% among the age group of 15-25 year-olds in the Kurdistan Region, according to a survey by the Kurdistan-based Healthy Life Organization. It also found that 34% of medical doctors, 18% of women, and 3% of religious leaders are regular smokers in the Region. Hookah is also popular with 36% of youth in the Kurdish region. In Iraq, about a quarter of the population, 7.5 million, smoke cigarettes, according to the Educational and Psychological Research Center at Baghdad University. According to some estimates, around 1 billion packs of cigarettes are consumed every year in Iraq.
