gelişim üniversitesi
  Coordination of The Fight Against Addiction -
İstanbul Gelişim Üniversitesi Logosu
Gelişim Üniversitesi
  1.   Homepage
  2. Coordination of The Fight Against Addiction
  3. News


Smoking and Smoking Addiction is a Preventable Problem


Istanbul Gelisim University Faculty of Health Sciences Lecturer A. Mücella Soydan shared important information about smoking and smoking addiction.


The most basic and crucial fact that should not be forgotten about smoking, which causes the death of more than 8 million people all over the world every year; “Smoking is harmful to health”. It is a known fact that tobacco kills half of its users. 80% of the one billion people who use tobacco in the world live in low-middle-income countries. According to the World Health Organization Global Tobacco Epidemic 2021 Report, due to 7 million people using tobacco annually; 1.2 million people die from exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. Smoking is not an individual problem that only concerns smokers. It is a serious psycho-social problem that includes spouses and children living next to smokers, cigarette companies that earn extraordinarily large sums of money and indirectly encourage smoking, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of National Education, as well as many individuals and institutions.

Tobacco control is defined in the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control as “strategies to reduce supply, demand, and harm that aim to improve health levels by preventing or reducing the consumption of tobacco products and exposure to tobacco smoke”. It should not be forgotten that universities are among the priority groups in terms of tobacco control for the tobacco industry, especially since students are a target group.

Once addiction develops, quitting is a very difficult process. Therefore, it is very important to be able to prevent the child or adolescent from starting to use tobacco or nicotine. At the beginning of the things to be done, role models such as parents and teachers should avoid using tobacco and nicotine, especially in a way that the child can see and take as an example. It is important to encourage parents to quit; To achieve this, both family physicians and pediatricians must question the parent's use of tobacco and nicotine at each examination and encourage them to quit.

In addition, advertisements of tobacco and nicotine products and the industry's sponsorship of various social activities should be strictly controlled to protect children and adolescents from harmful effects.
Smoking only benefits cigarette monopolies.
It should not be ignored that smoking and cigarette addiction are preventable problems.
For this reason:

o Prices of cigarettes and tobacco-related products should be removed from being attractive,
o Making regulations that ensure that cigarettes are no longer a sector,
o The cultivation of other products in agricultural areas where tobacco is grown should be encouraged with the re-prepared state support programs,
o Education about smoking and tobacco should start from the earliest possible age,
o Smoking addiction prevention and treatment units should be implemented as a common and public health service in all health institutions, the services provided and the drugs used in the treatment should be within the scope of the social security system and free of charge.


News

All News
The Event “Being a Graduate of a Master’s Program” Held at IGU

The event titled “Being a Graduate of a Master’s Program”, organized by Istanbul Gelisim University (IGU), Asst. Prof. Nurten Elkin, the event comprehensively addressed the significance of master’s education in individual development and career planning.

17 December 2025 Wednesday
The Addiction Prevention Coordination Office of Istanbul Technical University (IGU) held a seminar titled "Technology Addiction and Virtual Gambling i

A seminar titled “Technology Addiction and Online Gambling in Children” was organized by the Department of Child Development at Istanbul Gelişim University Faculty of Health Sciences in collaboration with the Addiction Prevention Coordination Unit. The seminar was held on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, between 14:00 and 16:00 at the Esenyurt District Governorate Family Support Center. Within the scope of the program, topics such as technology addiction among children in the digitalized world, online gambling mechanisms, risky digital content, parental awareness, and preventive and protective practices were discussed.

12 December 2025 Friday
Visit to the Yesilay Crescent Youth Center by the Istanbul Gelisim University Young Yesilay Crescent Club

As the Istanbul Gelisim University Young Yesilay Crescent Club, we visited the Yesilay Crescent Youth Center on Monday, November 17, 2025, and spent an informative as well as enjoyable day. During the visit, a comprehensive briefing program was conducted on the Yesilay Crescent’s work, objectives, and activities in the field of addiction prevention.

19 November 2025 Wednesday
The “TECHNOLOGY ADDICTION” Workshop was held by the IGU Addiction Fighting Coordination.

A workshop titled “TECHNOLOGY ADDICTION” was held by Asst. Prof. Nurten ELKİN, a faculty member, in cooperation with the Dean of Students; Office of the IGU Addiction Fighting Coordinatorship.

18 November 2025 Tuesday
“Healthy Living and Mother-Child Attachment” Seminars Organized by the IGU Coordination Unit for Combating Addiction at the Family Support Center

On November 12, 2025, a seminar entitled “Healthy Living and Mother-Child Attachment” was conducted at the Esenyurt District Governorship Family Support Center by Asst. Prof. Nurten ELKİN, Head of the Department of Child Development at Istanbul Gelişim University Faculty of Health Sciences and Coordinator of the IGU Coordination Unit for Combating Addiction, together with Research Assistant Rabia Ceren ÇAVGA from the Department of Child Development.

13 November 2025 Thursday
The Workshop on “Cyberbullying and Its Factors in Adolescents” Was Held

Within the scope of the Healthy Development Platform organized by the Istanbul Gelişim University Office of the Dean of Students and the Coordination Office for Combating Addiction, a workshop titled “Cyberbullying and Its Factors in Adolescents” was held. The workshop took place on Thursday, October 30, 2025, between 12:00 and 13:00 at the 17th floor of K Block Tower, Office of the Dean of Students, and was conducted by Asst. Prof. Nurten ELKIN and Res. Asst. Şebnem ÇELİK UÇURAN.

03 November 2025 Monday
A "Cigarette Addiction" Workshop was held by the IGU Addiction Fighting Coordination

A "Smoking Addiction" workshop was held for students on the 17th floor of Gelişim Tower, in collaboration with the IGU Addiction Prevention Coordinator and the Dean of Students' Office, as part of the "Healthy Development" platform.

21 October 2025 Tuesday
The IGU Young Yesilay Student Club held its first meeting.

The IGU Young Yesilay Student Club held its first meeting under the guidance of Asst. Prof. Dr. Nurten Elkin.

15 October 2025 Wednesday
2025-2026 Student Orientation Held.

An orientation program was held for students new to Istanbul Gelişim University for the 2025-2026 academic year, planned by the Dean of Students' Office, between September 15, 2025, and September 18, 2025.

03 October 2025 Friday
Behavioral Addiction Provincial Action Plan Awareness Training Held

As part of the "Istanbul Behavioral Addiction Provincial Action Plan," the Ministry of Health's Avcılar District Health Directorate provided an educational session on addiction to our university students.

30 May 2025 Friday