Tobacco.org

Rapid urbanization as well as cultural habits explain Gulf states' rise in heart disease prevalence 

While the rapid improvement in socio-economic conditions is thought responsible for the high rates of cardiovascular disease in the Gulf states, deep-rooted cultural factors also play a part. "We're sitting on a time bomb," says Professor Hani Najm, Vice-President of the Saudi Heart Association, whose annual conference begins Friday 27 January. "We will see a lot of heart disease over the next 15 to 20 years. Already, services are saturated. We now have to direct our resources to the primary prevention of risk factors throughout the entire Middle East." . . .

And now there is further evidence that the cultural heritage of the Middle East may present yet another growing risk factor in the region's battle against heart disease. The waterpipe - also know as the hookah or shisha - is now said to be used by up to 34% of Middle Eastern adolescents. Despite a perception that the risk of the waterpipe may be less than those of cigarettes, a recent report suggests that its "harmful effects are similar to those of cigarettes", and that the waterpipe may offer "a bridge" to cigarette smoking.(1) The greatest prevalence of use - with up to 34% reported - is currently among adolescents and women.

A recent study from the Gulf Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE), the region's largest, found that 38% of patients registered were cigarette smokers and 4.4% waterpipe smokers.(2) The study, which included 6,701 consecutive acute coronary patients in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, found that the waterpipe smokers were older than the cigarette smokers and more likely to be female.

However, despite the relatively low rate of waterpipe smoking among the patients in this registry study, other studies report more widespread use throughout the region, and especially among the younger age groups. A study from 2004 found that 22% of men in two villages of Egypt reported current or past use of waterpipes, and the habit is increasingly evident even among student communities in the USA, Canada and Germany.

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60% of lung cancer patients in UAE are smokers — expert 

* The Genomics Centre noted there is a lack of national strategies to treat or prevent cancers in the Arab communities.

Dubai: Lung cancer is the most common cancer among Arab men and the only way to tackle this is for men to give up smoking, a medical institution in Dubai has warned.

A report released on World Cancer Day on Saturday by the Centre for Arab Genomic Studies points out that cancer is the third-leading cause of deaths in the UAE.

But researchers note that cancer causes more deaths in the country than heart disease or traffic accidents.

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• Rising tobacco prices cause stir in West Bank  

Mustafa Jum'a, who runs a coffee shop in Ramallah in the West Bank, began to worry about his business as the prices for hookah smoke rise due to an extra tariff imposed on tobacco.

Israeli authorities suddenly raised import tariffs on tobacco, a move the Palestinians have to follow because of the Paris Economic Protocol signed with Israel in 1994, which states the two must have bond import tariffs in the light with the unified customs framework.

The rise has caused a reduction of customers, said Jum'a, adding most of his customers are public employees that used to come to the coffee shop twice or three times a day. "(They) now come here only once, if not every other day," he said.

The hookah price in Jum'a's coffee shop has risen from seven shekels (around 1.8 U.S. dollars) to 12 shekels (3.4 dollars). He made money when hookah smokers order tea, coffee or other drink, so now he makes less profit due to the reduction of customers.

Head of the tobacco customs department in the Ministry of Finance Bandi Dahdah said the new customs tariff requires the payment of 279 shekels (73 dollars) per kilogram, compared with the previous 50 shekels (13 dollars). Since the best tobaccos are imported from Egypt and Bahrain, almost all hookah smokers are affected by the new regulation.

Local tobaccos, mainly produced in the north of the West Bank, are unsuccessful in competing with these Arab blends.

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AUDIO: WATER PIPE SMOKING 

At the European Society of Cardiology's meeting at the Saudi Heart Association's Annual Conference in Riyadh Professor Hani Najm suggested that water pipes are contributing to a time-bomb of heart disease in the Gulf States.

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GCC Control Tobacco Committee discusses anti smoking strategy 

The 21st GCC Tobacco Control Committee has discussed ways of updating the GCC tobacco control plan and implemented strategies, warning images and other topics related to anti smoking and tobacco control.

The meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Health in Coral Deira Hotel in Dubai today.

At the opening session, Dr. Mahmoud Fikri, Assistant Undersecretary for Health Policies at the Ministry of Health, welcomed the members of the committee conveying the greetings of Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Acting Minister of Health and expressing his gratitude for the efforts of the executive office of the GCC Health Ministers Council. He also reassured the efforts of the GCC tobacco control committee for fighting tobacco and smoking practices in the gulf region.

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WHO calls for efforts against passive smoking 

World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged governments to protect the public from exposure to secondhand smoke by implementing smoke-free air policies in all enclosed public spaces. In its call to action, WHO commemorates 10 years since the two holy cities of Makkah and MAdina were declared smoke-free by releasing the report entitled Tobacco-free cities for smoke-free air: A case study in Mecca and Medina.

This report is pivotal for other cities and countries looking to take forward their smoke-free air agenda. The success of the Mecca and Medina initiative may trigger action, particularly in the Muslim world, and thus contribute to worldwide protection from exposure to secondhand smoke, said a statement issued by the world Health Organisation (WHO) Islamabad office.

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• GCC Control Tobacco Committee discusses anti smoking strategy 

WAM Dubai, Jan 29th, 2012 (WAM) -- The 21st GCC Tobacco Control Committee has discussed ways of updating the GCC tobacco control plan and implemented strategies, warning images and other topics related to anti smoking and tobacco control.

The meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Health in Coral Deira Hotel in Dubai today.

At the opening session, Dr. Mahmoud Fikri, Assistant Undersecretary for Health Policies at the Ministry of Health, welcomed the members of the committee conveying the greetings of Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Acting Minister of Health and expressing his gratitude for the efforts of the executive office of the GCC Health Ministers Council. He also reassured the efforts of the GCC tobacco control committee for fighting tobacco and smoking practices in the gulf region.

He said: "All of us must unite our efforts and visions to find a mechanism for facing smoking dangers and their economic impacts and unhealthy dangers. The United Arab Emirates finalized the issuance of the tobacco control federal law and made great efforts in preparing the executive by laws that are expected to be approved soon by competent authorities".

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• Smoking ban delayed by interested businesses  

DUBAI // Business is delaying the introduction of the law to stop smoking in public places and regulate tobacco sale and production, a senior health official says.

At a meeting of the GCC Tobacco Control Committee, with representatives from all six Gulf states, Dr Mahmoud Fikri, the undersecretary for health policy at the Ministry of Health, said the law was in the final stage of approval and awaiting cabinet approval.

But it has been at that stage since June, when the ministry submitted the regulation. Dr Fikri said implementing such a law was difficult.

"It is hard for things to run smoothly in this," he said. "There are a lot of interests, and there are big companies today and a lot of other things that come into effect.

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• Cigarette prices set to soar after new Gulf tax 

Smokers should brace themselves for a fresh rise in the price of cigarettes when a new tax approved by the UAE and other Gulf oil producers is enforced at the end of 2012, an official was reported on Monday as saying.

Health ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) endorsed the “health tax” at talks in Saudi Arabia in early January as part of joint plans to curb the consumption of tobacco in the region, said Dr Widad Al Maidoor, head of the anti-smoking section at the UAE Ministry of Health.

“The new law is intended to reduce tobacco consumption in the GCC and envisages the imposition of a new tax called ‘health tax’.…it will affect tobacco products and equipment used in its production and manufacturing…the tax will amount to 100 per cent of the product’s value.”

Quoted by the semi official daily Alittihad, Maidoor said the new law would be enforced at the end of 2012 after it is approved by the GCC finance ministers.

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• Mina Shalabi annoys Saudis by smoking in public  

Egyptian actress Mina Shalabi encountered an embarrassing situation during her recent visit to Saudi Arabia to attend the ‘Saudi Forum for the Unity of Arab Countries in the Fight against Aids’ as a number of Saudis reprimanded her for smoking in the lobby of the hotel she was staying at. In addition a number of the attendees of the forum were irritated by Mina’s constant smoking as she walked around the hotel and the centers where medical tests were being performed. . . .

Many considered Mina’s refusal to keep her smoking habit a private one and done in her room a sign of stubbornness on her part and saw her actions as a sign of disrespect to the Saudi Ministry of Health that was sponsoring the event and a very active member in the anti-smoking campaign.

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• “Tobacco Control” recommends the banning of smoking in public places 

His Excellency, Minister of Health & Director of the National Committee for Tobacco Control Dr. Abdulla Bin Abdul Azeez Al Rabiaa led, at the end of last week in his Ministry Council Office, the third meeting of the National Committee for Tobacco Control. The key recommendations agreed about in the said meeting were to raise a request to the royal authority for issuing a decision which bans smoking in public areas. It was agreed, as well, to address each of Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Municipal & rural Affairs in regard to issuing an organizational decision for prohibiting the selling of tobacco products to the youngsters and restricting such sale by a special license and for a fixed fee.

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Bloomsbury to launch ‘The Tobacco Keeper’ 

The Tobacco Keeper is for anyone who seeks to understand the Middle East. The book written by Ali Bader and translated by Amira Nowaira will be published by Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing on December 5.

Long-listed for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) in 2009, The Tobacco Keeper is an ambitious and exciting novel, written by one of the rising stars of Arabic literature. It spans five decades of turbulent Middle East history, making it essential reading ‘for anyone who seeks to understand the Middle East’ said Baghdad News in a review.

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Oncologists urge joint action as cancer incidence seen rising 

With cancer on the rise in the developing world, Arab oncologists should combine efforts to combat cancer in the region, experts said on Thursday.

Hussain Khalid, vice president of Cairo University and dean of the affiliated National Cancer Institute, said that although cancer incidence is currently higher in developed countries, there is a trend towards higher rates in developing countries.

"Developing countries register from 100 to 200 cancer cases per 100,000 of the population every year, compared to 300 to 500 cases per 100,000 in developed countries," Khalid told reporters yesterday, adding that 10 million cancer cases were registered globally in 2000, the majority in developed countries.

This figure, he said, is expected to reach 16 million in 2020, but the majority of new cases are expected to surface in developing countries, where the high prevalence of smoking, poor diet and unhealthy lifestyles increase the risk of cancer.

"This is a challenge for us, and we should come up with a prevention and early detection strategy," Khalid said in a press conference on the sidelines of the third Euro-Arab School of Oncology (EASO) Masterclass in Clinical Oncology in Amman.

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The changing trends in tobacco smoking for young Arab women; narghile, an old habit with a liberal attitude 

Abstract (provisional)

Narghile smoking by young females is becoming more acceptable than cigarettes in the conservative societies of Arab countries. Lack of social constraints on narghile smoking has resulted in an increased prevalence of narghile smoking among young Arab females and an earlier age of onset of this habit when compared to cigarette smoking. Documented health hazards of narghile smoking including pulmonary, cardiovascular and neoplastic ailments are consequently expected to affect this vulnerable sector of the population together with their offspring. In this commentary, we shed some light on the changing trend of tobacco use among young Arabic women as shown by an increasing number of studies investigating habits of tobacco use in young people.

The complete article is available as a provisional PDF. The fully formatted PDF and HTML versions are in production.

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Tobacco: Middle East and Africa Regional Overview 

The Middle East and Africa region stands out as a growing market, though with a few caveats. There is a strengthening move towards more stringent application of anti-tobacco legislation and a shift towards harsher taxation in key markets, notably Egypt. The strong presence of domestic operators provides a combination of opportunities and threats for multinationals; a situation which reflects the market overall.

Euromonitor International's Tobacco: Middle East and Africa Regional Overview global briefing offers an insight into to the size and shape of the Tobacco market, highlighting major industry trends and categories as well as the factors affecting operating environment. It identifies the leading companies and brands, offers impartial, strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market - be they new product developments, legislative restrictions or pricing influences. Forecasts illustrate how the market is set to change and where it is headed.

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