Practice of smoking; awareness among adolescents of Abasia higher secondary school and Ummul Qura Bahawalpur

Tobacco kills nearly 6 million people each year. More than five million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600 000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. Unless urgent action is taken, the annual death toll could rise to more than eight million by 2030[1]. To reduce this heavy morbidity and mortality due to tobacco use, can only be reduced by educating the masses regarding harmful effects of tobacco use. This cross sectional study was conducted with the objective, to assess the awareness and factors responsible for smoking among adolescents in Abbasia Higher secondary school and Umm ul Qura High School, Bahawalpur. The study was carried out in Abbasia Higher secondary school and Umm ul Qura High School. Duration: From 1 May 2011 to 15 June 2011. Subject/A preformed questionnaire was used to collect data from 150 subjects included in this study. Of all the subjects, 74% were aware of smoking, 22.67% were smokers. According to this study, 76.47% of smokers said that they smoked to enjoy some occasion, 17.65% smoked due to stress and 5% for exam preparation. Students were well aware of smoking hazards; prevalence of smoking was higher in Umm ul Qura High School students

Self medication among non medical students of Islamia University Bahawalpur

Background: Use of medicine by a patient on his own initiative or on advice of a pharmacist or a lay person instead of consulting a medical practitioner is known as self-medication. Internationally self medication has been reported as being on rise. Little has been reported on the extent of self medication practices in Pakistan

Objective: To determine prevalence and commonly used drugs in self medication among non medical students of university

Subjects and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Baghdad campus of Islamia University Bahawalpur, from 1[st] May, 2011 to 15[th] June, 2011. Predesigned questionnaire was filled by the investigators themselves

Results: The prevalence of self medication was found to be 71.2%. The most common factors which led to it were "previous experience with similar symptoms [58%]", "Pharmacist's advice [28%]" and "friend's advice [15%]"

Conclusion: Prevalence of self-medication is high even in educated youth, despite majority being aware of it to be harmful

Smoking, knowledge about determinants among students of mbbs at qamc, bahawalpur

World Health Organization estimates that approximately 5 million people die each year world wide from Tobacco related diseases. Cigarette smoking is the commonest form of tobacco and is incidence increasing specially in teenagers and women particularly despite of increasing awareness of harmful effects of smoking. This study aims the knowledge of determinants of smoking. The objective of the study is to determine the knowledge about factors responsible for smoking. Cross sectional survey. Study was carried out in Quaid-e-Azam Medical College, Bahawalpur. 1[st] Jan, 2010 to 31[st] May, 2010. A sample of 100 medical students of QAMC was selected according to stratified random sampling. Data was collected through pre-designed questionnaire. Out of total 100 students 94% of the students know the determinants of smoking. According to [31.30%]] of the students, tension/stress was the most important factor responsible for smoking with enjoyment [21.73%]] and style/status symbol [20.86%]. Conclusions: High proportion of students were aware of the determinants of smoking

Prevalence of tubercuosis in jail

To determine the prevalence of tuberculosis in prisoners of jail. Descriptive study. Central Jail Bahawalpur, all prisoners who were jailed in prison were included. It comprises prisoners of ten years [from 1999]. The study population comprised of 2552 prisoners, 2540 were males and 12 were females. The important variables included symptoms of patients [cough, fever, hemoptysis], age, duration of stay in jail and radiological features seen on chest X Ray. Data was analyzed on SPSS. There were 2540 males and 12 females. Forty-six patients had tuberculosis [1.80%] with mean age 37 +/- 12.07 years and their mean stay in jail was 802 +/- 1118 days. Among prisoners diagnosed as tuberculosis 39 [85%] had cough and hemoptysis was present in 10 [21.73%] of tuberculosis patients along with cough. Chest X Ray showed 22 [48%] had cavitations and bronchiectasis on chest x ray. Upper lobe alveolar infiltrates were found in 19 [41%] of cases while pleural effusion was present in 5 [11%] of tuberculosis patients. The study revealed that tuberculosis exists in jail of South Punjab Pakistan thus represents an important screening site for TB