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Experts estimate that smoking in Egypt costs around 8 million pounds annually as around 85 billion cigarettes are smoked per year. Salah is one of nearly 13 million Egyptian smokers, who have been the target of a high-profile anti-smoking campaign launched over recent years.
More than two years ago, the health authorities made it obligatory for tobacco manufacturers to print an image of a sickly man living on an artificial ventilation machine, on packets of cigarettes.
But soon, the warning image became a funny public issue as the man in the picture sued the authorities for "tampering" with his features without his consent.
Last month, another controversy erupted when a new illustration was printed on tobacco products linking smoking to male impotency. . . .
The increase in the numbers of smokers is not limited to Egypt, however.
According to a recent study in Yemen, people there smoke around 6.4 billion cigarettes per year, i.e. 317.5 million packets. "The magnitude of tobacco use can be perceived when we imagine that if cigarettes used annually are arranged in one line, they would stretch for around 508,000 kilometres," said Ahmad Hussain Al Hada, an ex-executive of the Youngsters Welfare Fund, who conducted the study.
The numbers of smokers in Yemen are among the highest in the world
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Yemenis gather at a shop selling qat, a mild drug used daily by most Yemenis, at a market in Sana'a. Photo: AFP
For Yemenis, the mild narcotic qat is as much a part of life as an after-dinner drink in the West and, as with brandies, connoisseurs want the best varieties. But the trees that produce the most sought-after leaves are in a war zone.
Mohammed Ahmed Ghanem runs a stall selling qat in the Yemeni capital's upscale Kuwait market. Prices for an afternoon's worth of the stimulant leaves can run anywhere between $2 (£1.20) and $100 depending on quality.
But the very best, known as shami, is no longer available, Ghanem acknowledges ruefully.
Yemen ranks the second in the Arab World in the number of smokers after Tunisia according to a study conducted by World Health Organization (WHO) issued in May 2009. In Yemen also the number of students has increased and that 1.14 % from students of primary education in Yemen aged 13-15 smokes and 40 % are subject to passive smoking stated a Field survey conducted by Anti-Smoking program.
Yemenis smoke 604 billion cigarettes per year, said a new official research issued last year on the occasion of the World No Tobacco Day. According to the study conducted by the National Program for Combating Smoking, Yemenis smoke 604 billion cigarettes with a total cost of YR 21.5 billion.
Cigarettes prices increased by YR 40 per pack, following the conclusion of the Regional Conference for Combating Cancer, last Tuesday.
Many companies and businessmen have donated to programs aimed at combating cancer. Among the donors was the Haeel Saeed group, which donated YR 50 million. Ali Mahdi Saleh, a smoker who smokes one of the brands produced by the Haeel Saeed group, said this was a small gesture, as the YR 50 million donated by the group could be recouped from consumers as a result of the new price in one day alone.
Radman al-Qubati, a smoker of the same brand said he would continue smoking cigarettes in spite of the higher price.
Meanwhile, President Saleh attended the closing ceremony of the conference, and instructed the responsible authorities to purchase new equipment which will aid the detection of cancer in its early stages, and for this equipment to be provided to all cancer clinics.
He instructed the passing of new laws imposing special taxes on cigarettes and mobile bills, with the proceeds going to cancer treatment programs.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh issued directives to strictly implement the anti- smoking law which prohibits smoking in all indoor public places including public transport.
The law, which was issued in 2005, has already been enforced in the Ministry of Public Health and Population, Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in addition to the Yemeni Airline CompanyYemeni Airline Company and Social Fund for Development.
In his meeting with the participants of the Fourth Gulf Conference on Fighting Cancer, which took place from February 16-18, Saleh emphasized a previous decision to increase fees on cigarettes. He also warned against dangers of smoking on health.
Dr. Abdul-Hakim Al-Kuhlani, the supervisor of the National Anti- Smoking Program in the Ministry of Public Health and Population said the president directed strict measures towards the enforcement of Law No.26 from the year 2005 on combating smoking.
"The Ministry of Health issued no-smoking directives to all medical facilities.
Born in an educated family, Nasser was bound to have a bright career, yet her family and friends say she has truly exceeded expectations. Her father was a journalist and a diplomat and her mother was a school principle. . . .
In 1997, Nasser was the first Yemeni lawyer to sue international cigarettes companies through their agents in Yemen for encouraging people to smoke. Marlboro and Montana cigarette companies had launched an advertising campaign promoting a smoking competition by which the person who collects the largest number of empty cigarette packs gets a prize. She won the case and the competitions ended. . . .
She hopes that one day she will have the time and the resources to create a civil society organization and to dedicate more time to advocating for policy change. Through her work, she wants to help give Yemen a better future where there is democracy and safety. Where the environment is protected and the children are happy.
In Yemen, chemicals or pesticides used in farming and tobaccos are the main factors in increasing cancer cases, doctors say.
They warn that using tobacco, whether it is smoked or smokeless tobacco such as shamma, which is placed under the tongue or between the lips and gums, coupled with the unregulated use of chemicals in irrigation are factors in the spread of various cancers and other diseases among Yemenis.
Officials and specialists maintain that such chemicals enter the country both legally and illegally, but that the Yemeni government has failed to control them to the degree that they have become used on all farms.
Dr. Mohammed Kedesi, radiation oncologist at the National Oncology Center in Sana’a, said, “We’ve recently noticed a horrible phenomenon of increased instances of cancer among Yemenis, although the disease isn’t new in this country. . . .
“Most Yemenis afflicted with cancer are from Hodeidah governorate because of the bad habit of shamma usage.” . . .
Kedesi confirmed that the oncology center receives 25 new cancer cases every day. Most cancers among men, such as mouth, neck and tongue cancers, could result from their addiction to tobacco and chewing or eating plants sprayed with chemicals.
According to a study recently released in Yemen, there are over 3.4 million smokers, of whom nearly 86 percent are adult males, while 29 percent of them are of the age group 17-24.
The Study pointed out that Yemen has the highest rate in the world, and nearly a decade earlier Yemen spent about YR 21.3 billion in tobacco. That number is likely to be much higher today.
Tobacco smoking is a major risk factor for tooth loss according to the study, which was designed to examine tooth durability and the patterns of tooth loss in smokers and nonsmokers in a selected age groups of Sana'a residents.
Radhwan, an 11-year-old, smokes cigars while washing cars in the capital. When the Yemen Post asked him why he chose to do so at a young age, he pointed out angrily," everyone can do whatever he likes and no one can be responsible for others. . . . I know what I am supposed to do, and smoking does not harm me but it rather helps me."
[E]veryone can do whatever he likes and no one can be responsible for others. . . . I know what I am supposed to do, and smoking does not harm me but it rather helps me."Radhwan, an 11-year-old who smokes cigars while washing cars in Sana'a, Yemen.
Stop smoking for the sake of your children who are the most precious people in your life.
Fras Shamsan, a young man effected by the bad situations in Yemen, has been inspired to do something helpful. Shamsan who has never smoked a single cigarette, recently launched a campaign against smoking called “Life is better without smoking.” Shamsan felt that combating smoking is no longer an option. “I see many young people smoking and ruining their lives,” he said.
Lack of awareness is the main reason for people to practice these behaviors. Many young men quit smoking after Shamsan held workshops regarding the dangers of smoking.
The WHO conducted a 3,000-person survey in Yemen with male and female students between the ages of 13 and 15. The study found that nearly 19 percent of the children surveyed were already smokers at this age. This means that around 570 out of 3,000 students in middle school are smoking.
Nasser is 12-year-old boy who smokes while helping people carry their bags outside a supermarket.
When asked why he smokes, Nasser was indignant. “I’m a man now and I can do whatever I want to do,” he said. Nasser said he started smoking after his father died when he started working in order to support his family.
In the coming days, the National Sulfur and Tobacco Company will give the people of Kamaran Island transportation buses for school children, in addition to electricity dynamos and machinery for stone-cutting, as well as contributing to other development projects, sources told the Yemen Observer.
Those who do not consider smoking as a sin, are in fact people of less understanding, because if one persists in a minor sin, then the minor sin transforms itself into a major sin. Smokers are parallel to the inhabitants of the Jahannam, who eat harmful dirty plants: No food will be there for them but a poisonous plant, which will neither nourish them nor remove their hunger. Rasulullah (S) says:
“There are five grounds for converting a minor sin into a major sin . . .
Government must frame such an effective law that cigarette manufacturing Companies should find it extremely hard to carry on their business and the import of foreign cigarettes should be altogether banned. An effective campaign should be launched against the use of Tobacco.
“NO SMOKINGâ€. This and many other posters like it call and warn people to avoid smoking especially in public institutions. The question however is: do all people follow these rules???
When I see a smoker, cigarette in mouth, on the bus; I change seats. I witness this same scene in the restaurants, cafeterias, taxis, gardens, schools, hospitals, etc. Smoking has become a bad habit- a reality we face in Yemen along with other countries in the world.
Last week, I saw approximately 55 years old walking slowly and out of breath. My impression was that he had run or walked from a far off distance; yet I was surprised when he said, “I have just left my house and these are my first steps to the mosqueâ€. He told me that he smokes cigarette and the pipe “mada’ah†and now very tired. . . .
All of us must say in a loud voice ‘No for smoking –Yes to better health’.
A paper titled ‘Influence of Islam on smoking among Muslims’ in the latest BMJ issue by Aziz Sheikh and other researchers from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, said that the highest smoking rates in Yemen to date. About 86 percent of adult Yemeni males are smokers, field researchers found. There are 3.4 million total smokers in Yemen, 29 percent of whom are between 17 and 24 years old. According to the new study, Yemen has one of the highest smoking rates in the world. In 1999, Yemen spent about YR 21.3 billion on tobacco, and that number is likely much higher now.
Accoding to a study, carried out by Prof. Abdulla Salim Bin Ghouth and Prof. Ahmed Ali Bahaj in Hadramout University, that Many risky behaviors including cigarette smoking begin during adolescence
Surprisingly, young educated people are more likely to smoke.
If the cigarettes that Yemeni people smoke each year were laid end to end, they would circle the globe 18 times, says a new study. The study recorded the highest smoking rates in Yemen to date. About 86 percent of adult Yemeni males are smokers, field researchers found. There are 3.4 million total smokers in Yemen, 29 percent of whom are between 17 and 24 years old. According to the new study, Yemen has one of the highest smoking rates in the world. In 1999, Yemen spent about YR 21.3 billion on tobacco, and that number is likely much higher now.
Moreover, the agricultural land devoted to the cultivation of tobacco has doubled in the last several years. Yemenis are annually smoking about 6.4 billion cigarettes, which equal 317.5 million packets of cigarettes.