Arabian Governments Begin Adapting Laws to Limit Smoking [08/21-2]
Excerpts from: A SMOKE-FREE ARABIA?
ZAWYA.COM
[08/20/03]
From Casablanca to Dubai, Arab governments are beginning to adopt stringent
new rules to limit and discourage cigarette smoking.
It has not been an easy decision. Many of those governments earn vast profits
from government tobacco monopolies. But medical evidence is abundant: Tobacco
kills.
This fact is now being demonstrated to Arabs themselves, as government data
collection becomes more sophisticated. Although only two countries in the region
-- Egypt and Jordan -- now compile records of all smoking-related deaths, many
countries in the Gulf and North Africa are expected to follow suit shortly.
Statistics on smoking in the Middle East make fascinating reading. Consider
this: Although Arab governments have long applied double and triple digit import
duties on tobacco products, tobacco in those countries sells at a fraction of
what it costs in London, New York or Tokyo. This cost factor may help explain
why, in general, Arab men are 30% more likely to smoke than their brothers in
North America and western Europe.
But the social costs (often borne by state health agencies) have caused most
governments to re-examine their tobacco-related policies. This reflects the
overwhelming evidence that cigarette smoking is a major cause of various preventable
lung and heart diseases. Forecast rises in cancer rates in the region could
bankrupt the already strained state health systems of a dozen Arab states.
The changes now being enacted include general bans on smoking in public buses
and trams, segregated smoking in restaurants and cafes, bans on smoking in department
stores and food shops, as well as bans on smoking in classrooms.
Virtually all governments in the region now mandate health warnings on cigarette
packs; many are now strictly limiting advertisements. Ironically, this is not
the first time the Middle East has witnessed an anti-smoking jihad. Under some
early Ottoman rulers, smoking was banned on pain of death.
In a less drastic way, smoking has become socially unfashionable in some key
population segments in the Middle East, most notably among young, educated professionals.
There are now calls for Middle Eastern media and music stars to follow the examples
set in the past few years in Europe, North America and India, to promote "smoke-free"
films and concerts. Lebanon, for example, recently staged a "Tobacco Free
Films" festival. Qatar's Ministry of Public Health has launched a series
of competitions and other information campaigns to encourage a "tobacco-free"
lifestyle.
Middle Eastern countries have played a prominent role this year, in advancing
the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which lays out initial steps
to curb if not eliminate tobacco use. Among the first to sign were delegates
from Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar and Yemen.
Provisions of the treaty -- now signed by 192 nations -- dramatically raise
tobacco taxes, prohibit tobacco ads, and bar smoking in public areas.
Conspicuously absent from the list of signers was the US, home of the world's
largest tobacco company, Philip Morris.
Although the Framework Convention contains no enforcement mechanism, many Arab
health officials -- like their counterparts in Europe and North America -- believe
it will accelerate efforts to bring an end to tobacco smoking.
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