Hookah or waterpipe tobacco is used by people across the globe to smoke tobacco. It is also known as shisha, goza, narghile or ghalyoon in different regions.
This popular trend among the youth, uses a waterpipe and works by placing a tobacco product in a small bowl with holes in the bottom, which is attached to a tube linked to a water container. When the tobacco product is heated by hot charcoal placed on the tobacco, it emits smoke that the user inhales by puffing on a hose connected to the water container. This draws it through the water and into their lungs, explains the World Health Organisation (WHO).
However popular the trend may be, the health risks behind it cannot be ignored, especially when it affects many. In an attempt to raise awareness about smoking and using tobacco, the Ministry of Health recently posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) to address the gravity of the situation.
"They call it cool. Your lungs call it cruel. Hookah smoke is filled with toxins, not trends," mentioned the post.
The post also mentioned that an hour of a hookah session can expose the individual to as much smoke as one hundred cigarettes.
According to the WHO, the health dangers of waterpipe tobacco use are often little understood by users. Waterpipe tobacco use is not a safe alternative to cigarettes, and there is no proof that any device or accessory can make waterpipe smoking safer.
One head of unflavoured tobacco has the nicotine equivalent of 70 cigarettes, WHO added.
For more information, consult a health expert.
