Tobacco.org

• Health ministry plans tough measures to curb smoking 

Dubai: The Ministry of Health said it will go ahead with its plans to make smoking more difficult and costlier in spite of what one senior official described as a worldwide interference by the tobacco industry in public health policies.

Dr Wedad Al Maidour, head of the anti-tobacco control committee at the ministry, accused "big tobacco' of putting up a tough fight against any anti-smoking legislation.

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There are plans to double the tax on tobacco products but various departments are not able to come to a consensus on how it should be done as there is huge revenue from tobacco involved

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Cigarette packs to feature graphic warnings  

• Dubai gov't to double price of cigarettes  

The price of cigarettes in Dubai will double from August in line with new directions from the emirate's municipality.

Tobacco products in the emirate are currently priced at an average AED8 (US$2.2), but will increase to AED16 as of this summer.

The government announced its plans to make smoking pricier last year in a bid to keep up with neighbour states whose cigarettes are more expensive.

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• 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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Smoking, obesity claiming more lives in UAE 

EDITORIAL: Smoking their way to an early death 

While every legal measure is being taken to prevent the sale of addictive nicotine and tobacco-based products to teens, sadly there are those who cannot resist the lure of smoking. Public education programmes also help in the fight against the dangers of the dirty habit. But until such a time as smoking is treated as anti-social behaviour, and the price of tobacco put beyond the reach of those who are tempted, the lure of nicotine will remain.

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Shops urged to emulate 'no tobacco sale' move 

A retail chain's decision to voluntarily stop the sale of cigarettes in its outlets is a brave move which should be emulated by others in the industry, say the UAE's senior officials fighting the use of tobacco products.

Khaleej Times reported on Thursday that Ajman-based Al Manama Group that runs a chain of 16 supermarkets and hypermarkets in six emirates has stopped selling cigarettes. The group's managing director, A.K. Sabeer, said he took the decision to support the country's fight against the use of tobacco products that is detrimental to people's health. "It's a brave move... I really congratulate and appreciate Al Manama Group for taking this excellent step," said Dr Wedad Al Maidour, head of the UAE's National Tobacco Control Committee.

"This is a great support for us from the community's side. We want other well-known group also to do what Al Manama has done," she said after reading the report.

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• Retail chain stops selling cigarettes 

A UAE retail chain has vowed to join the country's fight against tobacco products by stopping the sale of cigarettes which has an annual turnover of Dh10 million.

The Ajman-based Al Manama Group will be the first supermarket and hypermarket chain to voluntarily stop the sale of cigarettes, said AK Sabeer, the group's managing director. Union Co-op that does not sell pork products and cigarettes due to religious and health reasons is the only retail group that has never sold cigarettes in the UAE. In 2002, Adnoc filling stations became the first petrol stations to stop the sale of tobacco products.

Complying with a Dubai Municipality initiative, nearly 200 outlets including petrol stations in Dubai had banned the sale of tobacco for a day on the World No Tobacco Day last year.

Sabeer, who has been toying with the idea for nearly a year, said he decided to kick butts off the shelves to support the anti-tobacco initiatives of the UAE government. "When the government is spending so much on anti-tobacco programmes and awareness campaigns, this was the least I could do to offer my support," he told Khaleej Times.

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Health ministry anti-smoking, diabetes media projects win awards 

The Ministry of Health has won two prizes at the GCC health media awards; one in the short story category and another in the TV message category.

Dr Mahmoud Fikri, Assistant Undersecretary for Health Policies, stated that the award aims at improving the fields of innovation and creativity among health specialists, recognising the leading and active initiatives among health individuals and organisations in the field of health awareness. The award also aims at enhancing the health conditions of GCC citizens, cooperation with media organisations and competition between the health media competitors. . . .

Furthermore, Dr Fadila Al Sherif, Director of Health Education and Enhancement Department at the Ministry of Health, said: "The total number of UAE presented works were 7. The Ministry of Health won the first prize in the short story category that revealed the anti-smoking programme of the ministry among school students. Titled "Big Challenge", the story emphasised the dangers and negative impact of smoking in a school environment.

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Smokers fuel prediction of steep rise in lung disease 

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.

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• Rapidly spreading COPD threatens to snuff out smokers’ lives 

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.

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EDITORIAL: The price of a smoke 

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.

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Shisha will stay hot in UAE, taxed or not  

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.

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

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.

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• Smoking ban delayed by interested businesses  

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.

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