http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/country/mid-east.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Cons_Products/Tobacco_curbs_hit_Bidi_exports/articleshow/3147048.cms http://tobacco.org/news/267297.html The bidi export market is seeing a downward trend and confusion prevails among bidi exporters about the actual figures. But exporters present a unanimous front on the reasons for the fall. The restrictions on tobacco the world over are seen as the chief reason for the exporters' woes. Low-cost cigarettes seem to be the other villains. Bidi exporters are slowly losing hold over the Middle East, which has been the mainstay for many companies, like Nimex Trading Corporation. “The Middle East accounts for about 90% of our exports,” says Nimex proprietor Parvez A Khatri. The Asian population in these countries constitutes the major clientele for bidis. However, cigarette manufacturers in Bangladesh who are supplying their wares at cheap rates, are beginning to eat into their markets. The Times of India Bangladesh India Mid-east Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidZAWYA20080604041418/secIndustries/pagHealthcare http://tobacco.org/news/266493.html Ban on smoking in public places and selling tobacco to people under 20 have cut sales of cigarettes in the GCC by 12 per cent, according to industry experts. Total sales across the region are about 60 billion cigarettes a year and Saudi Arabia is the largest market with an annual total of 12 billion. Small- and medium-sized tobacco manufacturers expect their business volume to decline further due to increased taxes and restrictions in regional markets. But global giants such as British American Tobacco and Philip Morris International (PMI), which dominate the market, recorded an increased sales in the first quarter of 2008 mainly due to higher turnover in East Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Eema). Zawya.com support@zawya.com (VM Satish) Uae Saudi Arabia Africa Iran Iraq Mid-east Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2008/May/theuae_May1000.xml&section=theuae&col= http://tobacco.org/news/266287.html DUBAI -- The rate of smoking is increasing in all GCC countries due to the absence of an anti-tobacco law, said a senior health official yesterday. Dr Abdullah Al Badah, Supervisor-General, Tobacco Control Programme for the AGCC for Saudi Arabia, revealing details of the recently carried out Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), said that 80 per cent of the youth in the GCC favour a blanket ban on smoking while shisha was the most preferred form of tobacco. The UAE GYTS on youth aged between 13 and15 years, includes data on prevalence of cigarette and other tobacco use as well as information on five determinants of tobacco use: access/availability and price, environmental tobacco smoke exposure (ETS), cessation, media and advertising, and school curriculum. Khaleej Times Uae Saudi Arabia Mid-east Fri, 30 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7010582186 http://tobacco.org/news/263109.html Cigarette companies may have to design new packets to enter the rich oil exporting Arab countries. According to a proposal which the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries are in the process of finalizing, all cigarette packets must have 50 per cent of the packaging indicating statutory health warning with a mandatory font set to 14 on the surface. Dr.Mariam Al Jalahma, the Assistant Undersecretary of public health and primary care at the Bahrain Ministry of Health told AHN Media on Tuesday, "The proposal is being studied by the GCC Council for Anti Smoking which is yet to be finalized. All tobacco companies supplying their products to the region will have 18 months to change their look." All Headline News Mid-east Bahrain Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Health/10202297.html http://tobacco.org/news/262588.html People in the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries are developing lung disease at a younger age and the trend is set to worsen, researchers warned. The 46-country Greatest International Antibiotic Trial (Giant) studied the prevalence of acute exacerbate chronic bronchitis (AECB), a form of lung disease, and the effectiveness of Bayer Schering Pharma's antibiotic in treating it. It found a majority of the 4,300 subjects in the Middle East were reporting the disease at 48.5 years old, the youngest compared to other regions. The average age for lung disease in Latin America was 63.1 years, followed by Europe at 60.5 and Asia-Pacific with 57.1 years. . . . He warned the outlook in the Middle East was grim: "What is happening here is what has happened in the US and Europe 20 years ago. There are more women smokers [and] it's going to get worse if nothing changes." Gulf News Uae Mid-east Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080314/METRO02/803140378/1411/METRO02 http://tobacco.org/news/261265.html Cigar-smoking Michigan military people in the Middle East may soon be puffing away at seized stogies, courtesy of the Oakland County Narcotics Enforcement Team. Drug officers seized 1,500 hand-wrapped cigars during a traffic stop of a convicted drug felon in January along M-59 in eastern Oakland County. The cigars, which include counterfeit copies of much-coveted and embargoed Cuban cigars, were obtained under forfeiture laws. Now Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard hopes to ship them off to Michigan troops. Detroit News mmartindale@detnews.com (Mike Martindale / The Detroit News) Mid-east Fri, 14 Mar 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/86/2/08-030208/en/index.html http://tobacco.org/news/259281.html Under WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI), the 21 Member States of WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region, are stepping up tobacco-control efforts. The Initiative was launched in 1998 and WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), which is now one of the most widely supported treaties in the history of the United Nations, entered into force in 2005. The moves can’t come soon enough, according to Dr Fatimah El-Awa, the regional adviser for the Tobacco Free Initiative at WHO’s Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, which is based in Cairo. “When we talk about tobacco, some people still look at us and laugh, saying, ‘Well, people are starving and dying from poverty and you’re talking about tobacco.’ But they don’t understand that tobacco contributes to poverty.” With stronger tobacco control policies, including smoking bans expanding in public areas like restaurants in more parts of the United States of America (USA) and Europe, cigarette manufacturers are dumping their toxic merchandise in other parts of the world such as the Eastern Mediterranean Region, making tobacco control measures even more imperative, says El-Awa. The region comprises 21 Member States, from Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia in north Africa, through the Gulf countries, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the rest of the Middle East to Afghanistan and Pakistan in south Asia. It also includes Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan in sub-Saharan Africa. World Health Organization Africa Mid-east Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSSEL00027820080121 http://tobacco.org/news/258460.html KT&G Corp, South Korea's top tobacco company, said on Monday it had agreed to sell 450.7 billion won ($476.3 million) worth of cigarettes to Alokozay International Limited. KT&G said in a filing to the Korea Exchange that those cigarettes would be sold in the Middle East and Russia. Reuters Uae Russia Korea - South Mid-east Mon, 21 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/UAE/220619 http://tobacco.org/news/257802.html With the ban on smoking spreading swiftly throughout the GCC – there is no better time than the present to give up smoking. As a first ever for the region, the UK’s number one health and beauty store responds to those who have health questions and require immediate and impartial professional advice through the new 'Ask Your Boots Pharmacists' campaign unveiled this week. Whether your reasons for quitting smoking are to improve your heart and lung health, to look and feel better or to protect those around you from the harmful effects of cigarette smoke, this campaign aims to encoura Al Bawaba.com Uae Mid-east Sun, 06 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=nw20071206140552617C647300 http://tobacco.org/news/256330.html About R100-million worth of counterfeit cigarettes were seized by police and port security at the Durban harbour on Thursday. Head of Durban Harbour security and protection services Superintendent Thembakazi Mase said about 4 400 boxes of Chelsea cigarettes were found in four containers and 2 100 boxes of Chicago cigarettes were found in two other containers. Each box contained 50 cartons of cigarettes. . . . She said the cigarettes were being smuggled into South Africa from the Middle East, Unite Arab Emirates, and Egypt. The Independent Online South Africa Mid-east Thu, 06 Dec 2007 05:00:00 GMT http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/930351.html http://tobacco.org/news/256121.html While MKs from all the parties crowded into the Knesset cafeteria to watch the television broadcasts from Annapolis, Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman pushed aside the sign that bans smoking in the sitting room at the end of the main auditorium. It was clear he did not care a bit about the controversy over the joint declaration's content. . . . Lieberman is not a sucker. After Annapolis, as before, he is in no hurry to leave the government. As long as he calmly smokes his cigars, his friends in the West Bank settlement Nokdim can relax. Ha'aretz Newspaper/Magazine eldar@haaretz.co.il (Akiva Eldar Tags: Ehud Olmert ) Israel Mid-east Palestine Mon, 03 Dec 2007 05:00:00 GMT http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7009275304 http://tobacco.org/news/255863.html Saudi Arabia wants to bring the national battle it has waged against 14 tobacco firms to higher grounds by asking the rest of the Persian Gulf states to also sue cigarette companies operating in the region. Dr. Tawfiq Khoja, director general of the Executive Bureau of the Gulf Cooperation Council of Health Ministers said Tuesday it will not allow the cigarette producers to influence further young Middle Easterners to take up the habit. To slow down nicotine consumption in Saudi Arabia, the state filed a suit against 14 tobacco firms, asking for a $2.7 billion (10 billion riyal) compensation to cover the medical bills for locals with smoking-related ailments. In addition, the Saudi government is asking for a $133 million (500 million riyal) annual payment to cover the cost of ongoing treatment. Riyadh also wants to end tobacco sponsorship at sporting events. The habit claims 7,000 lives in Saudi every year, mostly young people. Dr. Khoja disclosed 45 percent of them are people in their mid-20s, 27 percent high school students and 13 percent female teachers. Other Gulf states are beginning to pick up the battle. Last week the United Arab Emirates started to implement the second phase of the smoking ban covering restaurants, cafes and shisha stores. The region has the biggest smoking rate in the world, with 24.3 percent of puffers school children. All Headline News Uae Saudi Arabia Mid-east Mon, 26 Nov 2007 05:00:00 GMT http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/UAE/218283 http://tobacco.org/news/254673.html Local and international experts on the medical and social effects of smoking have gathered in Dubai to discuss a strategic plan to reduce its impact on health and wellbeing in the region. Among the issues under discussion were the results of recent research that revealed that 54 percent of smokers in the UAE are younger than 30 years of age, demonstrating the scale of potential future health problems unless the widespread addiction to tobacco is curtailed. Al Bawaba.com Mid-east Uae: Dubai Thu, 01 Nov 2007 04:00:00 GMT http://www.hemscott.com/news/latest-news/item.do?newsId=51178830657650 http://tobacco.org/news/253669.html British American Tobacco PLC said it has appointed Andrew Gray, currently the president of Souza Cruz, the group's Brazilian unit, to succeed Nicandro Durante as regional director, Africa & the Middle East. Hemscott Group Limited tfn.newsdesk@thomson.com Africa Mid-east Fri, 12 Oct 2007 04:00:00 GMT http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/8/prweb545852.htm http://tobacco.org/news/251109.html Pressure is mounting on Middle East companies to ban smoking in the workplace, according to the latest survey by GulfTalent.com, the region's leading online recruitment portal. The survey found that an overwhelming 98% of professionals favour some form of smoking restriction in their workplace. Of the total respondents, who included both smokers and non-smokers, 54% preferred a complete ban on smoking inside office premises, while a further 44% believed that the workplace should be largely smoke-free, with smoking only permitted in certain designated areas. Only 2% of professionals surveyed were completely opposed to any form of smoking restriction. PR Web Mid-east Sun, 12 Aug 2007 04:00:00 GMT