© George MBELLA / cameroon-tribune.cm
In several neighbourhoods of the capital city, Yaounde,
youth these days are often seen in a growing number of pubs, smoking from tubes
connected to an unusual type of designed "jar" containing flavoured
tobacco and water.
The new kind of water-pipe smoking, also called Shisha or Hookah, is
said to be risk-free according to promoters who have introduced the practice
into the country. This cannot be true, for the World Health Organisation (WHO)
has for several years now been warning that water-pipe smoking is dangerous to
health.
"Contrary to ancient lore and popular belief, the smoke that
emerges from a water pipe contains numerous toxicants known to cause lung
cancer, heart disease and other diseases," WHO said. In its "advisory
note," the UN health agency warned that using water-pipes to consume
tobacco, which is commonly mixed with molasses and fruit flavours, usually
exposes a person to more smoke over a longer period of time than do cigarettes.
