TEHRAN - A Health Ministry specialist, Mohammed Pour-Islami, said here on Wednesday that over 4 million people die annually in the world and nearly 50,000 die annually in Iran due to tobacco use, adding that developing countries have the highest death rate. Dr. Pour-Islami added, "Unfortunately, cigarette addiction is becoming more common among children and young adults in most developing and less developed countries."

He said that smoking by very young people the increasing number of girls smoking are the main problems in these countries.

He went on to say that girls are in danger of cigarette addiction more because they are more influenced by peer pressure, the fact that they begin puberty at a younger age, the lack of entertainment and educational programs for girls, and their wrong beliefs about cigarettes, such as that its helpfulness in losing weight, its sedative quality, and so forth.

He also mentioned that boys often begin smoking because of their wrong assumption that it makes them appear manly and grown up.

He concluded by saying that 30 percent of Iranian youth between the ages of 10 and 19 have smoked at least one cigarette, which is a very serious problem.