Tobacco.org

Thorax foundation holds meeting on smoking perils 

The Skalkottas Room at the Athens Concert Hall was wreathed in metaphorical smoke on Wednesday. Nobody dared light up, of course, as they heard the truth about the lethal consequences of smoking, which starts out as a game or a fashion or a demonstration of virility and becomes a dangerous habit that leads to an often painful death. The room was packed with personalities, officials, doctors and others devoted to the business of health, and many parents had brought their children along to hear the facts. Professor Haralambos Roussos, director of the Thorax foundation and head of the intensive-care unit at Evangelismos Hospital, rightly described World No Tobacco Day as a day of responsibility. On the panel were Grigoris Skalkeas, Athens Academy member, surgeon and professor of surgery, who has headed the anti-smoking campaign as well as Roussos and Professor Athanassios Fokas — aerospace engineer, mathematician, medical school graduate and winner of this year’s Aristeio award from the Bodossaki Foundation. Journalist Mara Zacharea moderated the discussion in which Health Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos also participated, speaking out forcefully against smoking.

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