Tobacco.org

• Tobacco firms' absence in court 'unjustifiable' 

Riyadh: The case filed earlier by the Saudi Ministry of Health against representatives of tobacco companies in the kingdom has been adjourned until October 31, the ministry's legal department's director Ebrahim Al Misaiteer announced. . . .

The WHO representative in Saudi Arabia criticised the absence of tobacco company representatives from the court session. He described this absence as "unjustifiable".

He noted that if representatives or agents of tobacco companies are right they should present their evidence in court. He said in the United States alone more than 12 million people have died between 1964 to 1999 because of smoking and that the cost of treating patients who have smoking-related diseases reached $175 billion (Dh642b) during the same period.

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