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MALANI: Strict monitoring on sale of cigarettes to children needed  

• Graphic images mandatory on cigarette packs from August 9  

Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry, issued a ministerial decision approving the Gulf Technical Regulation No 246/2012 requiring graphic images to be placed on cigarette and tobacco packages. The decision enshrines these images as obligatory under Omani standard specifications for items covered by health, safety and environment guidelines. Article 2 of the decision spells out penalties for defaulters, as set out under Royal Decree 1/78 and the Consumer Protection Law. Article 3 of the decision cancels all previous decisions that conflict with the provisions of the decision. Saleh bin Mohamed al Zedjali, Director of the Specifications Department at the Directorate-General of Specifications and Standards, said: “This decision will be applicable starting from August 9, 2012 in all the GCC countries.”

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• Air in Muscat cleaner 

Public venues across Muscat largely comply with national smoke-free policies, a study on second-hand smoke has found. With the exception of one venue, where second-hand smoke levels were extremely high, all of the public places sampled in the study were found to be in compliance with smoke-free norms.

The findings, according to Dr Jawad al Lawati, Director of the Department of Non-Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Control at the Ministry of Health, are a triumph for legislation that prohibits smokers from lighting up in enclosed public places.

“The ban on smoking in covered public spaces, such as malls and commercial establishments, has been a major success since it came into force two years ago.

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MCBS holds ‘anti–smoking campaign’ for students 

The number of students who are picking up smoking habits is continuing to rise everyday at an alarming rate and to raise awareness about the damaging effects smoking can have on your health, the Modern College of Business and Science (MCBS), in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, are organising a two day anti-smoking drive campaign at their college campus this week.

During this two day campaign, students can attend various awareness presentations delivered by the Ministry of Health and they can also avail of free medical check-ups that will be provided on campus. Smoking has both short and long-term effects on an individual smoker, ranging from difficulty in breathing and increased coughing to the more extreme cases of lung cancer.

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• Flood of complaints against shisha cafes 

A proliferation of shisha cafes in residential areas of the Sultanate has prompted furious complaints from neighbours angered by the constant exposure to second-hand smoke, a senior Health Ministry official has revealed.

According to Dr Jawad al Lawati, Director of the Department of Non-Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Control, several hundred people residing in the close vicinity of shisha outlets have written to government authorities demanding that steps be taken to safeguard their health and that of their families.

The issue, among other tobacco-related concerns, is to be discussed at next month’s meeting of the National Tobacco Control Committee, the official — widely hailed as Oman’s foremost anti-tobacco campaigner — told the Observer.

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• Move to ban electronic cigarettes in Oman 

Electronic cigarettes likely to face ban in Oman 

• Graphic warnings on cigarette packs from Aug 9  

Graphic images warning about the health dangers associated with tobacco use will be mandatory on all cigarette packs and tobacco products sold in the Sultanate with effect from August 9, 2012. According to a senior Health Ministry official, the new measure will be enforced across the Gulf region in line with a unified approach adopted by the GCC states in regulating tobacco use.

“Any cigarette and tobacco consignment entering Oman with effect from August 9, 2012 must have the mandated pictorial warnings, without which their sale in the Sultanate will be deemed illegal. “A ministerial decree ratifying this new legislation is shortly awaited from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry,” Dr Jawad A al Lawati (pictured), Director of the Health Ministry’s Department of Non-Communicable Diseases Surveillance & Control, told the Observer.

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Visual warning awaits smokers  

Pictorial warnings will soon be prominently displayed on cigarette packets against the dangerous consequences of tobacco consumption in the Sultanate as part of a unified GCC decision, said HE Dr Mohammed Bin Saif Al Hosni, Undersecretary for Health at the Ministry of Health Affairs, on Tuesday.

Talking to Oman Tribune on the World No Tobacco Day celebrations, Al Hosni said that the details of the decision was in the final stage and it would soon be implemented in the country along with other GCC countries.

On the outcome of the measures taken by the government to discourage tobacco consumption, Al Hosni said that there was encouraging results of the efforts being made in the country by the Muscat and Dhofar Municipalities as well as the Ministry of Regional municipalities.

He said that the Muscat Municipality had decided to 'streamline' smoking habits in the closed areas and it had very positive results. "A study was carried out about the effects of such measures. This showed that the air became cleaner in closed areas as well as it changed the behaviour of smokers who now go out of closed areas to have a fag," said Al Hosni . . .

Al Kiyumi, who is also member of the National Committee of Tobacco Eradication, urged that the efforts to achieve the goal must continue.

According to the latest Health Ministry data released this year for the period between 2003 and 2009, there has be no change in the price of tobacco since 2003, when it was just 0.5 rial for 250gms. In 2009, the price reached 0.6 rial for 250gms.

However, according to the data, there has been drastic decline in the quantity of yearly import of tobacco to the Sultanate from 17.8 million kg in 2003 to 13 million kg in 2009.

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Call to enforce treaty on use of tobacco products  

The Sultanate joined hands with the rest of the world to mark the ‘World No Tobacco Day’ to celebrate the successes of the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in the fight to curb tobacco epidemic, at the City Season’s Hotel yesterday.

Nonetheless, in spite of the fact that the WHO recognises that challenges remain for the public health treaty to reach its full potential as the world’s most powerful tobacco control tool, this annual occasion is aimed at drawing the global attention to the widespread prevalence of tobacco use.

The occasion, which is held under the slogan ‘The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’ is also designed at stressing on the negative health effects of tobacco use, which currently results in a number of deaths worldwide.

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Oman celebrates “No Tobacco Day” today 

Muscat: Oman is celebrating World No Tobacco Day today that falls on May 31st of every year under the theme (World Health Organization (WHO) Tobacco Control Treaty).

Ceremony organized by Health Ministry represented by the Non-Infectious Disease Control Department will witness the participation of three experts from WHO, Framework Convention Alliance and Kingdom of Bahrain.

The celebration will present an overview of the WHO treaty, the global efforts for combating tobacco and the role of the civil community in supporting the implementation of the Framework Alliance for Tobacco Control and presentation of the successful examples for fighting tobacco in the regional states.

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Muscat City Centre Clears the Air with its No Smoking Policy 

In a move designed to make the Muscat City Centre experience more enjoyable for more people, all open areas of the mall are about to become smoke free.

The City Centre is among the first to apply the Muscat Municipality initiative to ban smoking in all enclosed public places, and anyone caught lighting up inside the mall after April 1, will be told to leave or escorted from the building. Muscat City Centre will provide designated areas for those who still wish to smoke, but will strictly enforce the boundaries of those areas.

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Anti-Smoking: Think about it  

This is unquestionably a fantastic anti-smoking print advertisement launched in Oman to urge people to quit smoking. The advertisement is no doubt designed in a manner to hit the most dangerous aspect of smoking that it affects brain. The advertisement is showing ‘IQ’ written in the middle of the advertisement and the letter ‘I’ is displayed by placing a cigarette. The burning cigarette appeared in the advertisement has shown reaching the end of it to depict the letter ‘I’ would be disappeared and only Q will be left for display.

The advertisement clearly conveys that the cigarette directly affects the brain and consequently the intelligence of a person.

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• Bollywood legend in smoking row 

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has been threatened with legal action over a film poster that depicts him smoking a cigar.

India's National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication says if Bachchan does not reply to its legal notice in eight days it will take him to court.

The government banned tobacco adverts in 2003 and last year announced strict rules on smoking in films and on TV.

Bachchan is recovering at home from surgery last month.

The National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (Note), a non-governmental organisation, says Bachchan has broken the law.

Its secretary, Shekhar Salkar, told the BBC the film hoarding was of Bachchan's forthcoming film, Family.

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Smoke-free environment push 

The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar are among 79 signatories to the WHO Framework on Convention on Tobacco Control, reported Gulf News. The protocol is designed to promote smoke-free public areas, and includes bans on tobacco promotions and a tax and price increases on tobacco products. The deadline for compliance is February 2006.

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