健康英语新闻:Burundians give up smoking thanks to herbal drugs

He said at least 100 out of 120 smokers who consulted the abbot since January gave up smoking.

"The remaining 20 smokers failed to give up smoking because they didn't finish the prescribed dose," according to Ndikumwami.

Alain Ndyakarika, 28, still smoking said he is to start taking the herbal drug late this week.

"I'm prepared to start taking the drug on Friday. Its price is 10,000 Burundi francs (8 U.S. dollars) and I have been told it's efficient," Ndyakarika told Xinhua.

He said he sometimes has breathing problems because he smokes almost a packet of cigarettes per day.

Ndyakarika said, "Some people in addition fear me because I smell the smoke of a cigarette. I also use a lot of money on cigarettes while my salary is small."

A packet of cigarettes approximately costs BiF 1,000 (almost 1 dollar).

Burundi's PARCEM organization advocating change of mentalities, in a press release, urged the Burundian government to set up a national strategy against tobacco, implement the convention on the fight against tobacco and forbid people from smoking in public.