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From 6 July 2006, a graphic version of the current edition is available at the Daily News Online web site.

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Deliberating on the topic: 'Health effects of tobacco use" at a Tobacco Awareness Workshop for Youth,' Mr George Chingarande, said as far as medical research is concerned, there is no known proof that tobacco has positive effects on the human body.

Mr Chingarande noted that at the moment there are only known negative effects of tobacco, chief among which are various forms of cancer. He therefore challenged anyone who can prove otherwise to come forward with such information. He said it sad that some people deny the adverse effects of tobacco.

He regretted that more and more youth are tobacco smokers, especially cigarettes because they think the practice is trendy while in fact is it is a health risk.

Mr Chingarande noted that while smoking pipe has been found to be a bit better because some of the chemicals in the tobacco are absorbed by the wood before they could be inhaled, he still contents that smoking is harmful and can cause irreparable damage to one's body.

He called on smokers to be responsible and to always ensure that they do not endanger other people's lives.

He also advised the youth not to start smoking if they have not yet started because tobacco is a habit forming substance which is hard to quit.

For his part, Health Promotion Officer with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Mr Moagi Gaborone said his organisation supports issues surrounding tobacco awareness such as coming up with legislation and policy on how it should be managed.

Others include, he said, education, cessation and related care and support research as well as documentation and programming of information regarding tobacco use. Mr Gaborone told the workshop about some of WHO's anti-smoking initiatives, including Tobacco Free Initiative, Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Tobacco Legislation and World No Tobacco Day.

Meanwhile, Mr Gaborone who also dismissed as a fallacy the notion that tobacco smoking has some benefits.

At least five million people die yearly because of tobacco related diseases, noting that the figures could rise to over eight million by 2030 if no remedial action is taken.

Mr Gaborone, said tobacco companies use shrewd tactics to market their products.

He noted that their aggressive and ruthless marketing strategies, sometimes include displaying beautiful youngsters in trendy and sophisticated gear holding cigarettes to entice others to smoke because they know that there will be steady profits coming into the company.

In this regard, he appealed to the youth, who form a large percentage of the society, to ignore the advertisements as the main aim is to enrich tobacco companies at their expense.

Speaking at the same event, Principal Environmental Health Officer with the Public Health Department, Miss Gaesi Mophuting said such youth workshop will continue to be conducted across the country.

She said it has been established that most youth in the country smoke tobacco together with other habit forming drugs.

She said their next target group is children between the ages of 13 and 15 who are currently at school as they are also a target for tobacco companies.

The theme for the workshop was: 'Youth: Make Healthy Choice.' It was to raise the level of awareness on the health impacts of tobacco use among youth.

It was also to sensitise youth on the benefits of quitting smoking and to equip youth with counselling skills so that they can held others.

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