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Bafta Awards 2010: Top 10 facts about The Hurt Locker  

4. Part of the shooting took place during the Muslim month of Ramadan, which is observed by fasting from sunrise to sundown. Non-Muslim crew members hid out and ate in tents and specialty hotels with windows covered by carpets out of respect for Jordanian law. Smoking, eating or drinking in public during daylight hours is banned during Ramadan.

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EDITORIAL: Enforce the law 

Restaurant and coffee shop owners are asking for yet another extension of the grace period offered to them by the Ministry of Health before starting to apply the law regarding smoking in public places.

It would indeed be interesting to know how one extra month can help . . .

One thing is clear: unless the ban against smoking in public places is enforced, and soon, the country would be contravening and repudiating its treaty obligations under several international human rights conventions, over and above the WHO injunctions. And would do a disservice to its citizens.

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Jordanian Union Tobacco books USD 1.7m net profit for 2009 

Jordanian cigarette maker Union Tobacco & Cigarette Industries Company (UTCIC) booked a net profit of JOD 1.21 million (USD 1.7m/EUR 1.3m) for 2009, board chairman, Rijai Salafiti, said without disclosing any comparative figures.

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Health Ministry rejects restaurant owners' smoking ban proposa 

The Ministry of Health has rejected a proposal by the Jordan Restaurants Association (JRA) to gradually introduce a smoking ban in the Kingdom's restaurants over a four-year period, a ministry official told The Jordan Times Wednesday.

Malek Habashneh, director of the Health Ministry's awareness department, said the ministry will stand firm in implementing the Public Health Law, which prohibits smoking in public places.

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• Still no agreement on smoking ban date - JRA 

No agreement has yet been reached between the Ministry of Health and the Jordan Restaurants Association (JRA) on a date to implement the smoking ban in the Kingdom's restaurants, a JRA official said Saturday.

JRA President Zeid Goussous told The Jordan Times that it is difficult to implement the Public Health Law, which bans smoking in public places such as restaurants, before working on society's acceptance of the law.

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• 'Six shop owners referred to court for violating smoking ban'  

AMMAN - The Ministry of Health has referred six shop owners to court this year for violating the Public Health Law, a ministry official said on Wednesday.

Malek Habashneh, director of the Health Ministry's awareness department, told The Jordan Times that these shop owners, whose stores are located in malls, violated the law as they allowed smoking in their premises after the Public Health Law prohibiting smoking in public places was enforced at the beginning of this year.

He added that violators of the law face imprisonment or have to pay a fine.

The law also stipulates that any person caught smoking in a public place is subject to between one week and one month imprisonment or a JD15-JD25 fine. The same penalties apply to those who sell cigarettes to underage youths.

Habashneh also revealed that the health authorities referred four drivers of argileh delivery cars to court for violating the law this year.

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• 'Jordan committed to implementation of tobacco control treaty' 

Jordan is committed to the implementation of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC), Minister of Health Nayef Fayez said on Tuesday, noting that it was the second country in the region to endorse it.

The Ministry of Health has formed a committee to draw up a plan to implement articles 9 and 10 of the convention, which entered into force in 2005, he added.

"We are studying the possibility of enlarging the graphic warning printed on tobacco packets from 30 per cent to 50 per cent of the pack's total size," Fayez said at a meeting of 20 FCTC state parties to discuss the implementation of articles 9 and 10 yesterday.

He added that the ministry is also studying printing other graphics related to the impact of smoking on health.

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约旦机场和购物中心将禁烟 

新华网安曼2月20日电(记者于晓华苏小坡)据《约旦时报》20日报道，约旦卫生部规定从3月1日起，约旦阿莉娅王后国际机场和国内各购物中心将正式禁止吸烟。

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• VIDEO: Swine flu fears impact hookah smokers in Jordan 

Worldfocus partner Al Arabiya reports from the front lines of the hookah-smoking world in Jordan (translated and narrated by Worldfocus producer Mohammad al-Kassim).

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• Fast-food restaurants to become smoke-free zones as of June 1 

The Kingdom’s fast-food restaurants will officially become smoke-free zones as of June 1, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

In a statement sent to The Jordan Times, the Health Ministry said the decision was taken in collaboration with the Jordan Restaurants Association (JRA), as part of a plan to declare all restaurants smoke-free by the end of this year.

JRA President Zeid Goussous said the association is still conducting a study on the impact of the law before implementing it in tourist restaurants, noting that they “still need more time to study its effect on business”.

“It is easier to implement the law in fast-food restaurants,” Goussous told The Jordan Times yesterday, adding that the decision and the implementation mechanism will depend on the results of the study.

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• Restaurants demand postponement of smoking ban 

The Jordan Restaurants Association (JRA) has called for postponing the implementation of the Public Health Law, which bans smoking in public places, until the end of the year, a JRA official said on Sunday.

The Ministry of Health issued a circular banning smoking in shopping malls starting March 1, while restaurants were given until June to abide by the law so they have enough time to study the implementation mechanisms.

However, the restaurants said they needed more time.

“We cannot implement the law that soon. We need to move step by step to be able to ban smoking in restaurants, and I think it needs years, not months, to enforce the ban,” JRA Deputy President Essam Fakhreldin told The Jordan Times yesterday.

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• Nearly one-third of UNRWA students tobacco users - survey 

Nearly one-third of students at UNRWA-administered schools in Jordan use tobacco products, according to a survey released on Monday.

According to the UN’s “Global Youth Tobacco Survey”, 12.7 per cent of UNRWA students in Jordan smoke cigarettes, while 13.2 per cent use other forms of tobacco.

Nearly one in five students smoke argileh, 25.4 per cent of boys and 12.9 per cent of girls, according to the study, which was conducted by the UN agency in 20 UNRWA schools across the Kingdom.

The study, which surveyed 1,500 students between the ages 13 and 15, aimed to determine the prevalence of tobacco use at UNRWA schools across the region, Ali Khader, chief of health protection and promotion at UNRWA in Amman, told The Jordan Times yesterday.

According to the survey’s findings, UNWRA students are subjected to “very high” amounts of secondhand smoke,

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Jordan: Restaurants still studying feasibility of applying smoking ban 

The Jordan Restaurants Association (JRA) is still studying the feasibility of implementing the Public Health Law which bans smoking in public places, a JRA official said on Saturday.

"We cannot implement the law immediately since this might negatively affect the industry," JRA Deputy President Essam Fakhreldin told The Jordan Times, adding that a study should be conducted on the impact of the law before implementing it.

"We will assign a third party to conduct a study on customers' readiness to accept the ban. Each country is unique and has its own culture. The success of this law in Europe does not mean the same result will be achieved in Jordan," Fakhreldin explained.

The Ministry of Health last month issued a circular banning smoking in shopping malls starting March 1, while enforcing the law in restaurants has been postponed until June to give them enough time to study the implementation mechanisms.

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Jordan: Airport, malls to become smoke-free 

Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA)Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) and the country's malls will officially become smoke-free zones as of March 1, the Ministry of HealthMinistry of Health said on Thursday.

In a statement received by The Jordan Times, Minister of Health Salah Mawajdeh said the ministry informed shopping mall owners and airport personnel on Thursday of the enforcement of the Public Health Law, which prohibits smoking in public areas.

Mawajdeh said the ministry had several meetings with shopping mall and restaurant owners to develop a mechanism for implementing the law.

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King Hussein Cancer Center adopts a number of smoking cessation treatments 

Amman: In an effort to fight the smoking epidemic, and due to the increasing number of smokers in Jordanian that has now reached to 50% males and 18% females, King Hussein Cancer CenterKing Hussein Cancer Center's Smoking Cessation Clinic, and Pfizer - the world's largest research-based pharmaceutical company are cooperating to conduct the necessary studies to identify the reasons that drive people to smoke and look at individual varieties and conditions, in order to find suitable smoking cessation programs for each individual. . . .

About Pfizer Inc: Founded in 1849, Pfizer is the world's largest research-based pharmaceutical company taking new approaches to better health.

(c) Press Release 2009

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