Tobacco Articles: country uae

Smokers fuel prediction of steep rise in lung disease

mismail@thenational.ae ( Manal Ismail ) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

DUBAI // The prevalence of a progressive and irreversible lung disease is increasing rapidly. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects 4 per cent of the Abu Dhabi population, according to a study by UAE University, Zayed Military Hospital and the Emirates Allergy and Respiratory Society (Ears). Worldwide, the disease, caused mainly by smoking and characterised by severely restricted breathing as a result of lung damage and inflammation, affects between 2 and 9 per cent of the population, placing Abu Dhabi slightly below the average. However, with smokers making up nearly a quarter of the adult population in the emirate, experts project that the prevalence of COPD could increase to 7 per cent in the next five years.

Rapidly spreading COPD threatens to snuff out smokers’ lives

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

DUBAI: While there are ways, experts aver, to control the spread of most chronic diseases, the incidence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is threatening to rapidly increase in the UAE, with four per cent of the Abu Dhabi population already afflicted by the disease, a recent study reveals. The research has been carried out by Dr Ashraf H Alzaabi, Chair and Clinical Assistant Professor at the UAE University, and Head of Respiratory Division at Zayed Military Hospital. Another study on COPD is being conducted by Emirates Allergy and Respiratory Society (EARS) to cover the whole of the GCC region, details of which are soon expected to be out. Dr Mirza Ali Al Sayegh, president of EARS, said that COPD is an under-diagnosed, life-threatening lung disease.

EDITORIAL: The price of a smoke

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

It is a moot point if raising the price of tobacco products will stop smokers from risking their health. For addicts the past rise in the price has never been a deterrent even though one would accept that logic calls for a rethink seeing as how a person is paying that much more to damage his or her health. The 200 per cent heft in the tax across the GCC that has now on the verge of being implemented may well have the required impact and even if it does sober up a 10th of the smoking population to stubbing out their habit it will have been worth it. Despite the desire to stop thousands succumb to the pleasure of the cigarette and then feel guilty about it. A tangible price hike like this goes well beyond the cosmetic and can hit the average budget thereby calling for a change in lifestyle. . . . In the end it is the individual who has to decide whether the expense is worth the flirtation with danger. By the token it is also necessary to clarify the myths that surround smoking. All smoking is bad. No smoking device is safer than the other. There is no such thing as not inhaling. And only one in a thousand smokers can control their intake at two or three sticks a day. For the rest giving up is a temporary thing beaten only by the tiny span of cutting down.

Shisha will stay hot in UAE, taxed or not

rbundhun@thenational.ae — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Summary Despite plans in the pipeline to introduce a tax on tobacco that could push up prices of cigarettes and tobacco products by about 30 per cent, many smokers say that would have little effect on their smoking habits.

UAE considers tobacco tax but sales unlikely to go up in smoke

rjones@thenational.ae (Rory Jones) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

A proposed nationwide tax on tobacco products will largely fail to reduce sales of cigarettes across the Emirates - even if prices are hiked by as much as 30 per cent, retailers believe. Retail executives say only a social change in the consumption of tobacco will affect their topline sales in a significant way. "If you smoke, you smoke, regardless of the price. The majority of our customer base is not price sensitive," said Fahmi Al Shawa, the managing director for Convenience Arabia, the franchise partner for Circle K convenience stores. "Compared to international prices, [the Middle East] is one of the lowest-priced regions for cigarettes." The Ministerial Legislative Committee last week examined imposing a tax on imports of tobacco and its derivatives.

Smoking ban delayed by interested businesses

osalem@thenational.ae ( Ola Salem) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

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.

Cigarette prices set to soar after new Gulf tax: GCC to impose health tax on tobacco products at year end

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

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.

Cigarette prices could rise

newsdesk@thenational.ae — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

An increase in the price of cigarettes came one step closer yesterday as the federal government finished its discussions about raising tobacco taxes. The Ministerial Legislative Committee examined imposing tax on imports of tobacco and its derivatives, according to Wam, the state news agency. No details of the law were released and it was not clear whether the consumer or other parties would shoulder the cost. A packet of 20 cigarettes costs from Dh7 to Dh8.

Cigarette prices could go up

newsdesk@thenational.ae — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Federal Law on tobacco tax taking shape

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

ABU DHABI -- The Ministerial legislative committee has concluded its discussion of a proposed new federal law on imposing tax on the imports of tobacco and its derivatives.

Doctors seek UAE-wide research into dangers of smoking shisha

zalhassani@thenational.ae (Zaineb Al Hassani ) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

"With the census, maybe we will be able to go ahead with our survey to detail how people smoke shisha and midwakh [a small pipe filled with dokha, an Iranian tobacco], if they smoke on a daily basis, and what the common perceptions are." Smoking shisha remains an area of continuous interest for the Dubai Health Authority. But the lack of an all-encompassing study has hampered its ability to assess the problems. "We are interested in doing campaigns for teens regarding smoking and tobacco, so because of that we are interested to know more information about the levels of [consumption in] Dubai, in the UAE, as well as discovering how much [people] use shisha. But there is no study into this matter," said Dr Hanan Obaid, the head of the authority's community health services programme section. For the time being, without solid data, doctors in the country refer to external sources. "There is not much localised information available at the moment," said Dr Aamrah Shah, a primary care specialist at the American Hospital Dubai. Referring to data from the UK's National Health Service, Dr Shah said that one shisha is equivalent to smoking 20 to 40 cigarettes, although this number can increase.

Islamic banks never invest in pork, alcohol and tobacco

!--Rating@Mail.ru — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Russia's Finance Ministry is working on legal acts to sign an unusual investment agreement with the United Arab Emirates. Mutual investments will avoid taxation, whereas the Arabs will not have their profit taxed. However, the documents encourage only state-run corporations and funds. The agreement between the government of the Russian Federation and the UAE "About taxation of the income from the investments of the contracting states and their financial and investment institutions" was signed in Abu-Dhabi on December 7, 2011. However, the information about the document has become available only recently. . . . The norms of the Islamic banking do not allow any investments in the companies that deal with the production and sales of pork, alcohol and tobacco.

Letters: January 15, 2012

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

The report on shisha cafes flouting the age limit is just one part of the whole picture ('Many shisha cafes in Abu Dhabi flouting age limit for smokers', Gulf News, January 10). The problem is not only shisha or the age limits in cafes but smoking in general. This habit is quite common in universities, schools and offices. Smoking cigarettes is the bigger picture and it is so widespread that special areas are even provided for smokers in the vicinity of these institutions. I believe smoking should be banned not only for teenagers but for people of all ages because they are not only harming themselves, which might not concern anyone but them, but they are committing a crime by creating second-hand smoke . . .

My brother and his friends once saw a family in a cafe who let their 12-year-old son smoke a full shisha on his own. When they told the waiters about this both the family and managers of the cafe didn't listen -- it is unbelievable.

I am a smoker but I know the harms of smoking and my limitations. Most smokers don't even know the risks of shisha -- a campaign should be started to educate the public.

Are smokers a dying breed? : Smokers face a 50 per cent risk of dying - probably a long and painful death - from a disease related to their addictive habit.

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Cheap tobacco and an often flagrant disregard for clean air policies mean it's fair to say the UAE is something of a smoker's paradise. Such is the prevalence of smoking - whether it be cigars, cigarettes, shisha or, as preferred by some, midwakh pipes - many argue that it is a key constituent of this region's culture, with the direct consequence that for those who make it their resolution to quit, the odds are stacked against them being able to beat their addiction. It's much easier for would-be quitters elsewhere. In the West, those who persist in puffing away are no longer tolerated as accepted annoyances, but are now largely persona non grata to the rest of society. Stringently observed and enforced legislation has banished smokers from most public spaces, forcing them to huddle together, exposed to the elements, outside bars, restaurants and offices. As a result, more are stubbing out their habits for good. . . . "Things are starting to change. For example, I know a number of malls in Dubai are totally smoke-free. So it's happening. "I would argue that it's not a fixed aspect of culture, rather that the governments and cultures all around the world are now mobilising against tobacco. So I see it not a fixed difference, but as a developmental trajectory." As attitudes change, he argues, non-smokers will feel more empowered in asking others to stub it out. "I know that the UAE government has passed laws to restrict smoking in public places, so it's serious about it, but, as yet, they [have not been] consistently obeyed or enforced. Personally, I think this is just a transitional phase and the fact that most people don't take them seriously leads smokers to think they can get away with it," he states. "Many years back, this was happening in the USA, too. But then over time it began to change. It wasn't that the police spent a lot of time fining people, but the fact that there was a law, it gradually allowed non-smokers who were bothered to be able to say 'excuse me, this is a place where you're not supposed to smoke'. Now the laws have become very much obeyed, without the need for formal enforcement." So, with the government, physicians and even average onlookers edging tobacco users to the margins of society, the smoker's utopia that is the UAE could, at least according to Shiffman's predictions, be nearing its end.

UAE Smokers Could Face Extinction : GMT via SyndiGate.info The UAE's days as a smoker's paradise could be numbered.

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT