UAE joins WHO in anti-tobacco drive

With Dubai all set to launch the GCC-wide anti-tobacco campaign in line with World No-Tobacco Day, non-smokers in the emirate have welcomed the Dubai Municipality's move to stop the sale of cigarettes at petrol pumps today. However, they also called for more stringent measures to curb the malaise.

The UAE has joined the World Health Organisation's global initiative to clamp down on smoking and has stopped the sale of cigarettes at Emarat, Enoc and Eppco petrol stations in Dubai for 24 hours.

But city residents and people from the medical fraternity told Emirates Business they wish more could be done to discourage smoking in the country. Dr Humam Sami Ali, senior specialist, internal medicine, RAK Hospital, welcomed the move to halt cigarette sales at petrol pumps today.

"This is a great initiative and I wish drives like this one would be held on a more regular basis not just in Dubai but also in other emirates. This is a good thing as it will help in raising more awareness on the ill effects of smoking for the general public and will also force smokers to think about what they are doing to their bodies. Despite the fact that there is a ban on smoking in public places in Dubai, one gets to see so many people blatantly flouting it. For example, look at the Dubai Airport Terminal 1. While people refrain from smoking in the airport lobby, they can be seen standing outside and puffing away with impunity," he said.

An Indian expatriate resident of Dubai, Becky Diaz, said: "It is a good initiative, however, I think this one-day ban should extend to supermarkets and groceries too in order to make it more effective. Also, petrol stations should be barred from stacking cigarettes at all times because the more difficult you make access to cigarettes the more successful you will be in curbing smoking."

Residents also say there is a need for more awareness campaigns in schools. If children are made aware of the harm smoking can cause, they are less likely to smoke and may also try and stop their parents from smoking.

Aaron, an eighth grade student, said: "My father likes to smoke and my mother and I try to stop him, but he does not listen to us. He knows what smoking does.

"I wish the government would only allow packets that have graphic images of the cancers caused by smoking to be sold in the UAE. This will drive home the point more effectively. I saw one that my uncle brought from the US and it was really scary to look at."

World No-Tobacco Day is a WHO initiative and the health body's anti-smoking campaign this year is targeting women and children.

About 200 million of the world's one billion smokers are women and of the more than five million people who die from tobacco use each year, approximately 1.5 million are women, WHO says.

According to Dubai Municipality figures, even in a traditional society like the UAE the number of women smokers is increasing with 14 per cent of the country's smokers being women.

The UAE has joined the WHO's bid to curb smoking and in a significant move the GCC-wide anti-tobacco campaign will be launched from Dubai. While Dr Hanif Hassan, UAE Minister of Health, will launch the event at the head office of Dubai Women Association, Dr Hussein Abdul Razaq Al Jazaeri, Director of the WHO, Eastern Mediterranean Region, will announce the launch of the regional campaign there.

Talking about the habit of smoking in women and its ill effects on their health, Dr Ali said: "Not only have I seen an increase in the number of women smokers, the frightening thing is that young girls are getting hooked on cigarettes. I wish they would realise that not only are they harming their beauty as women who smoke age faster, and develop menopause early, they will also harm their baby if they continue to smoke while pregnant as nicotine affects the growth of the baby. They risk premature delivery, stillbirth and newborn death. Smoking increases women's risk of cancer of the cervix."

A WHO report showed that in half of the 151 countries surveyed, similar numbers of girls and boys smoked.

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