The Turkish anti-addiction nonprofit organization Green Crescent's week, marked between March 1-7 this year, was spent collecting aid for the quake-hit areas in several branches, including in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ, while the seminar to overcome smoking addictions was organized at a hospital in Gaziantep on Tuesday.
After the earthquakes, which were described as ''the disaster of the century'' and affected 11 provinces, various aid was sent to the earthquake victims from all over the country.
In addition to the aid sent, the budget and prepared materials for the Green Crescent (Yeşilay) Week celebrated in the first week of March were also sent to the earthquake zone, while additionally the organization also tries to provide psychological support to the earthquake victims through the line created.
Yeşilay Tekirdağ Branch President Zafer Soykırlı said, "At this stage, our Green Crescent headquarters has set up the number 444 98 01 for our citizens who are psychologically affected, and at the moment we have a total of 105 Green Crescent Counseling Centers throughout Türkiye.''
Our clinics, psychologists and social support service specialists are available at these centers. "When our psychologically affected citizens call 444 98 01, our clinics, psychologists and social service specialists all over the country will make the necessary evaluations and try to heal their wounds," he said.
Stating that they held these meetings at the Tekirdağ Green Crescent Branch and Tekirdağ Green Crescent Consultancy Center, Soykırlı said: "This week is the Green Crescent Week, but of course, we will overcome the troubled days we are in together. Due to this situation, we have shifted all the activities in our Green Crescent Week to the earthquake zone.''
"We transferred all our budgets to our earthquake victims with the instructions of our headquarters. We tried to participate in donation campaigns when we could. We are here to support the earthquake survivors," he underlined.
On the other hand, in Gaziantep, one of the provinces affected by the disaster, an event named "Don't be addicted, be healthy" was held Tuesday within the framework of Green Crescent Week to help people stop smoking.
At the event held at Medical Point Gaziantep Hospital, chest disease specialist Dr. Demet Çetin explained the harm of smoking and how people can kick the habit. Participating in the event, Medical Point Gaziantep Hospital Chief Physician Dr. Ekber Şahin announced that they will reward the personnel who quit smoking.
"March 1-7 is celebrated as Green Crescent Week. In this context, we have a beautiful slogan 'don't be addicted, be healthy.' Cigarette smoking is one of the addictions that affect our lives the most. This addiction harms both our personal health and the economy,'' Şahin said, adding that as an institution they plan ''to reward employees who quit smoking."
Through the event and informational presentation, Dr. Çetin pointed out that smoking is one of the most harmful habits and causes the death of hundreds of thousands of people in the world every year. ''Cigarettes contain toxic substances, and more than 70% of them are cancer causing.''
''The priority in smoking cessation is pharmacological treatment methods and psychological support. We recommend both together for the treatment of smoking addiction," she said.