Dr Sam Adjei, Deputy Director of the Ghana Health Service, on Tuesday called for a change in lifestyle of Ghanaians, saying it was a key issue in disease prevention and control.

He said smoking, dietary habits; drug abuse, indiscriminate sex and sedentary lifestyles were responsible for about 55 per cent of all preventable diseases in the country.

Dr Adjei was speaking at the launch of an anti-smoking campaign in Accra. The international campaign, dubbed "Quit and Win 2000" competition, is organised by the World Health Organisation and other collaborators to encourage adult smokers to quit smoking and win attractive cash prizes.

The competition is open to everybody aged 18 years and above, who has been a smoker for a year or more.

Abstinence would be required from the registrant and from the designated witness, adding that the biochemical urine test to check nicotine content would be used to validate the abstinence claims made.

The competition is designed to help create a global solution to a global problem by helping "quitters" reach their goal to quit smoking.

Quitters in Ghana are eligible to a range of rewards with the first prize being five million cedis. The second prize is three million cedis, the third prize, one million cedis and the fourth to 10th prizes would be 100,000 cedis each.

In addition, a winner has a chance to win 2,500 dollars in the international regional prize draw or 10,000 dollars, which is the top international prize.

Dr Adjei said smoking was responsible for some 75 to 80 per cent of chronic respiratory and heart diseases and cancers.

He noted that education and the provision of information to the communities were needed to change lifestyles, which were having serious negative impact on health services in the country.

Mrs Edith Wellington, a Researcher at the Health Research Unit of the Ghana Health Service, said studies had shown that 75 to 80 per cent of smokers wanted to quit and, therefore, needed specific strategies to help them kick the habit.

She said the there was the need to encompass systematic and continuous support to smokers to include personal advice delivered by health care professionals and the mass media.