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An exclusive Q&A with the man who first banned smoking at a higher educational institute: Serhiy Kvit
Jump to full article: Kyiv Post (ua), 2008-11-05
Author: Ivan Bachynskiy, Kyiv Post, Staff Writer
Intro: Smoking among youth in Ukraine seems to be getting worse all the time. In the past 15 years, more Ukrainians have been lighting up. Girls and women are increasingly joining this death march, attracted by such marketing gimmicks as pretty, slim and pink packs of cigarettes.
The World Health Organization says more than 100,000 Ukrainians die prematurely from smoking-related diseases each year. About 40 percent of the nation’s adults smoke, with as many as 10 percent of smokers taking their first drag at the age of 10.
Amid these sad statistics, a positive trend is also taking place in Ukrainian society as more individuals seek to kick the habit. The stars are aligned behind this effort. On May 31, which is World No Tobacco Day, about 100 well-known Ukrainians signed a “Manifesto Against Smoking.”
One of them was Serhiy Kvit, president of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, one of the nation’s top universities with more than 4,000 students.
Kvit turned his signature into direct action to protect non-smokers from the dangers of second-hand, or passive, smoking. Since Sept. 1, the start of the new school year, smoking has been prohibited on the entire campus – inside buildings and outside on the grounds.
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