Can the Arab world contemplate a future without tobacco use?

A man smokes outside a tobacco shop in the Saudi capital Riyadh late on June 11, 2017. (File/AFP)
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Updated 01 June 2021
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Can the Arab world contemplate a future without tobacco use?

  • World No Tobacco Day observed on May 31 to raise awareness on the harmful and deadly effects
  • Arab Gulf states are using the whole gamut of measures to reduce tobacco consumption

ABU DHABI: When it comes to smoking, all the facts are known yet they have proved to be no cure. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths and tobacco use causes more than 8 million deaths per year worldwide, says the World Health Organization (WHO).

To put that into perspective, the COVID-19 pandemic, which has necessitated national lockdowns, has seen the significantly smaller 3.56 million deaths so far.

Low- and middle-income countries pay a disproportionately heavy price as they have more than 80 percent of the world’s 1.3 billion tobacco users.

The Eastern Mediterranean region has a comparatively high number of tobacco consumers and that number is rising fast.




A youth smokes a waterpipe (Shisha) at a cafe in Dubai on May 31, 2008. Nicotine contained in tobacco is highly addictive and tobacco use is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, over 20 different types or subtypes of cancer, and many other debilitating health conditions. (File/AFP)

The good news is that Gulf states are using the whole gamut of measures to reduce tobacco consumption.

The largest of the GCC countries, Saudi Arabia, with a population of more than 34 million, has been taking a number of steps to curb the menace. These include increasing sales taxes and fines, conducting anti-smoking campaigns, establishing smoking cessation clinics and introducing dedicated mobile applications.

“Saudi Arabia has an ambitious strategic tobacco control plan to reduce smoking rates from 12.7 percent to 5 percent by 2030,” Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Health, was quoted as saying in 2019.

In 2017, the Saudi National Committee for Tobacco Control imposed a 100 percent tax on all tobacco products and banned smoking in public areas including malls, parks and workplaces.




A performer walks past an Emirati man as he lights a cigarette at the Meydan race track before the start of the Dubai World Cup, on March 27, 2010. Nicotine contained in tobacco is highly addictive and tobacco use is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, over 20 different types or subtypes of cancer, and many other debilitating health conditions. (File/AFP)

Additionally, the Saudi health ministry expanded its specialized clinics to 900 locations across the country.

Consequently, data from 2019 showed an increase in visits to clinics by 213 percent, a drop in tobacco imports by 54 percent, and a 307 percent spike in the number of people quitting smoking. 

Neighboring UAE faces a no less daunting challenge. Authorities have set a target of reducing tobacco consumption from 21.6 percent to 15.7 percent among men and from 1.9 percent to 1.66 percent in women by the end of the year.

FASTFACT

World No Tobacco Day is observed on May 31 to raise awareness of the harmful and deadly effects of tobacco use.

By far the most common form of tobacco consumption in the UAE is cigarette smoking (77.4 percent), followed by midwakh use (a small pipe used for smoking tobacco) at 15 percent, waterpipes at 6.8 percent and cigars at 0.66 percent.

The government has launched awareness campaigns on the harms of smoking via regular means as well as social media, said Dr. Buthaina Abdulla bin Belaila, head of non-communicable disease in the UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention.




A man smokes waterpipe (Shisha) at a cafe in Dubai on May 31, 2008. Nicotine contained in tobacco is highly addictive and tobacco use is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, over 20 different types or subtypes of cancer, and many other debilitating health conditions. (File/AFP)

“The country has started imposing excise tax on tobacco products that has led to a doubling of the price that consumers pay, which will be reflected in a reduction in consumption, according to studies,” she said.

“The UAE has also expanded provision for smoking cessation services by increasing the number of clinics and training more doctors to offer such services, which has resulted in an increase in the number of those wishing to quit smoking.”

INNUMBERS

UAE excise tax rates

* 100% Tobacco products

* 100% Electronic smoking devices

* 100% Liquids used in such devices and tools

The Oman Medical Journal study found that in the UAE prevalence rates of smoking were highest among Arab expatriates (31.9 percent), followed by non-Arab expatriates (22.6 percent) and Emiratis (21.6 percent).

According to Dr. Muhammed Anas Ayoob, a specialist in pulmonary disease at NMC Specialty Hospital in Abu Dhabi,, this could be because smoking is widespread in countries such as Jordan and Egypt, the home countries of many of the UAE’s Arab expats.

Living far away from loved ones and job-related stress may be among the reasons for high tobacco consumption by expats.

Of the GCC countries, Oman has the lowest rate of tobacco consumption, but future projections suggest it can ill afford complacency.

The prevalence of tobacco use among men in Oman (which stood at 17.9 percent in 2010) is predicted to rise to 33.3 percent by 2025, according to a 2017 study in the Oman Medical Journal.

This figure is still low compared with the predicted figures for 2025 for other Arab countries: Lebanon (45.4 percent), Bahrain (48.8 percent) and Egypt (49.9 percent).

The study claimed that before 1970, the ban on smoking in all indoor and outdoor public areas in Oman was enforced by public flogging and jail sentences.

These days, the government has a very different approach: it has set up cessation clinics for smokers and imposed a comprehensive ban on the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products.

The study also noted that Oman has no tobacco product manufacturing facilities, so more than 80 percent of the domestic demand is met through imports from the UAE, followed by Germany, Switzerland, Poland and Turkey.

In Qatar, a 2021 report on the epidemiology of tobacco use said the government’s National Vision 2030 and the Ministry of Public Health Strategy 2018–2022 aim to reduce the prevalence of smoking by 5 percent.

Qatar’s health ministry has pledged to establish a system for monitoring tobacco consumption and to conduct regular smoking surveys in accordance with the recommendations of the Global Tobacco Monitoring System.

It also intends to offer services to smokers who want to kick the habit, including a helpline and a local website. 




A woman smokes waterpipe (Shisha) at a cafe in Dubai on May 31, 2008. Nicotine contained in tobacco is highly addictive and tobacco use is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, over 20 different types or subtypes of cancer, and many other debilitating health conditions. (File/AFP)

The ministry says it will establish a practical and comprehensive tax model on tobacco products, including customs duties and taxes on tobacco production and sale.

“Evidence from countries of all income levels shows that price increases on cigarettes are highly effective in reducing demand,” Dr. Ayoob, of NMC Specialty Hospital, said.

“Higher prices encourage cessation and prevent initiation of tobacco use. They also reduce relapse among those who have quit and reduce consumption among continuing users.

“Several reviews have demonstrated that a price increase of 10 percent results in a decrease of 2.5 percent to 5 percent in cigarette consumption.”




A picture taken on September 28, 2017 shows a man organising cigarette packs at a shop in in Ras al-Khaimah. Nicotine contained in tobacco is highly addictive and tobacco use is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, over 20 different types or subtypes of cancer, and many other debilitating health conditions. (File/AFP)

On the question of whether e-cigarettes are a healthier alternative, Dr. Ayoob says that smoking does appear to be more harmful than vaping.

“This does not mean that vaping is safe. E-cigarettes produce an aerosol by heating a liquid that usually contains nicotine, flavorings and other chemicals that help to make the aerosol. Users inhale this aerosol into their lungs. Bystanders are also at risk of inhaling this aerosol when the user exhales into the air,” he said.

Dr. Ayoob pointed out that the US Food and Drug Administration has not confirmed that vaping helps people quit smoking. On the contrary, many e-cigarette users fail to kick their addiction, he said.

“According to a report, 58.8 percent of the people who recently used e-cigarettes also continued to smoke cigarettes,” he said.

 

Twitter: @farahheiba94

 


EU urges Israel to end Rafah military operation ‘immediately’

Updated 9 sec ago
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EU urges Israel to end Rafah military operation ‘immediately’

  • EU statement: ‘Further disrupting the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza and is leading to more internal displacement, exposure to famine and human suffering’
BRUSSELS: The European Union on Wednesday urged Israel to end its military operation in Gaza’s Rafah “immediately,” warning that failure to do so would undermine ties with the bloc.
“Should Israel continue its military operation in Rafah, it would inevitably put a heavy strain on the EU’s relationship with Israel,” said the statement issued in the EU’s name by its foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
“The European Union urges Israel to end its military operation in Rafah immediately,” the statement said, warning it was “further disrupting the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza and is leading to more internal displacement, exposure to famine and human suffering.”
The bloc — the main aid donor for the Palestinian territories and Israel’s biggest trading partner — said more than a million people in and around Rafah had been ordered by Israel to flee the area to other zones the UN says cannot be considered safe.
“While the EU recognizes Israel’s right to defend itself, Israel must do so in line with International Humanitarian Law and provide safety to civilians,” it said.
The law requires Israel to allow in humanitarian aid, the statement stressed.
The EU also condemned a Hamas attack on the Kerem Shalom border crossing which blocked humanitarian relief supplies.
“We call on all parties to redouble their efforts to achieve an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas,” it said.
Israel’s military operations in Gaza were launched in retaliation for Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israeli which killed more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, and saw around 250 hostages taken, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s military has conducted a relentless bombardment from the air and a ground offensive inside Gaza that has killed more than 35,000, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Israel’s main allies, the United States and the EU, as well as the United Nations, have all warned Israel against a major operation in Rafah given that it would add to the civilian toll.

Kuwait’s emir calls on new government to pursue reforms

Updated 5 min 47 sec ago
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Kuwait’s emir calls on new government to pursue reforms

RIYADH: Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Wednesday met with the new prime minister and his government.

According to the Kuwait News Agency, Sheikh Mishal said: “We are in a new phase of reforms and serious actions must be taken.”

He added that ministers should “accelerate the implementation of long-awaited strategic development projects, address needed files and work on the infrastructure projects, develop healthcare and the educational system, and take into account transparency and to preserve public funds.”

Sheikh Mishal appointed Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah as prime minister in April, and dissolved parliament last Friday in a televised speech.

He urged ministers to ensure that Kuwait has a strong and sustainable economy by investing in human capital and promoting innovation and scientific research.


UN launches probe into first international staff killed by unidentified strike in Rafah

Updated 15 May 2024
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UN launches probe into first international staff killed by unidentified strike in Rafah

  • Retired Indian army officer Waibhav Anil Kale was on route to the European Hospital in Rafah along with a colleague, who was also injured in the attack

NEW DELHI: The United Nations has launched an investigation into an unidentified strike on a UN car in Rafah on Monday that killed its first international staff in Gaza since Oct. 7, a spokesperson for the UN Secretary General said.
The staff member, a retired Indian Army officer named Waibhav Anil Kale, was working with the UN Department of Safety and Security and was on route to the European Hospital in Rafah along with a colleague, who was also injured in the attack.
Israel has been moving deeper into Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than a million people had sought shelter, and its forces pounded the enclave’s north on Tuesday in some of the fiercest attacks in months.
Israel’s international allies and aid groups have repeatedly warned against a ground incursion into Rafah, where many Palestinians fled, and Israel says four Hamas battalions are holed up. Israel says it must root out the remaining fighters.
In a statement on Monday after Kale’s death, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reiterated an “urgent appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and for the release of all hostages,” saying the conflict in Gaza was continuing to take a heavy toll “not only on civilians, but also on humanitarian workers.”
Palestinian health authorities say Israel’s ground and air campaign in Gaza since Oct. 7 has killed more than 35,000 people and driven most of the enclave’s 2.3 million people from their homes.
His deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Tuesday the UN has established a fact-finding panel to determine the responsibility for the attack.
“It’s very early in the investigation, and details of the incident are still being verified with the Israeli Defense Force,” he said.
There are 71 international UN staff members in Gaza currently, he said.
In its only comment on the matter yet, India’s mission to the UN confirmed Kale’s identity on Tuesday, saying it was “deeply saddened” by his loss.
Israel, which launched its Gaza operation after an attack on Oct. 7 by Hamas-led gunmen who killed some 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages, according to its tallies, has ordered civilians to evacuate parts of Rafah.
The main United Nations aid agency in Gaza, UNRWA estimates some 450,000 people have fled the city since May 6. More than a million civilians had sought refuge there.


Libya war crimes probe to advance next year: ICC prosecutor

An exterior view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, March 31, 2021. (REUTERS)
Updated 15 May 2024
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Libya war crimes probe to advance next year: ICC prosecutor

  • The Security Council referred the situation in Libya to the ICC in February 2011 following a violent crackdown on unprecedented protests against the regime of Muammar Qaddafi

UNITED NATIONS, United States: The International Criminal Court prosecutor probing war crimes committed in Libya since 2011 announced Monday his plans to complete the investigation phase by the end of 2025.
Presenting his regular report before the United Nations Security Council, Karim Khan said that “strong progress” had been made in the last 18 months, thanks in particular to better cooperation from Libyan authorities.
“Our work is moving forward with increased speed and with a focus on trying to deliver on the legitimate expectations of the council and of the people of Libya,” Khan said.
He added that in the last six months, his team had completed 18 missions in three areas of Libya, collecting more than 800 pieces of evidence including video and audio material.
Khan said he saw announcing a timeline to complete the investigation phase as a “landmark moment” in the case.
“Of course, it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to require cooperation, candor, a ‘can do’ attitude from my office but also from the authorities in Libya,” he added.
“The aim would be to give effect to arrest warrants and to have initial proceedings start before the court in relation to at least one warrant by the end of next year,” Khan said.
The Security Council referred the situation in Libya to the ICC in February 2011 following a violent crackdown on unprecedented protests against the regime of Muammar Qaddafi.
So far, the investigation opened by the court in March 2011 has produced three cases related to crimes against humanity and war crimes, though some proceedings were abandoned after the death of suspects.
An arrest warrant remains in place for Seif Al-Islam Qaddafi, the son of the assassinated Libyan dictator who was killed by rebel forces in October 2011.
Libya has since been plagued by fighting, with power divided between a UN-recognized Tripoli government and a rival administration in the country’s east.
 

 

 


Palestinians rally at historic villages in northern Israel

Updated 15 May 2024
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Palestinians rally at historic villages in northern Israel

  • The descendants of the 160,000 Palestinians who managed to remain in what became Israel presently number about 1.4 million, around 20 percent of Israel’s population
  • Israel has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory

SHEFA-AMR: Thousands of people took part Tuesday in an annual march through the ruins of villages that Palestinians were expelled from during the 1948 war that led to Israel’s creation.
Wrapped in keffiyeh scarves and waving Palestinian flags, men and women rallied through the abandoned villages of Al-Kassayer and Al-Husha — many holding signs with the names of dozens of other demolished villages their families were displaced from.
“Your Independence Day is our catastrophe,” reads the rallying slogan for the protest that took place as Israelis celebrated the 76th anniversary of the proclamation of the State of Israel.
The protest this year was taking place against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza, where fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas has displaced the majority of the population, according to the United Nations.
Among those marching Tuesday was 88-year-old Abdul Rahman Al-Sabah.
He described how members of the Haganah, a Zionist paramilitary group, forced his family out of Al-Kassayer, near the northern city of Haifa, when he was a child.
They “blew up our village, Al-Kassayer, and the village of Al-Husha so that we would not return to them, and they planted mines,” he said, his eyes glistening with tears.
The family was displaced to the nearby town of Shefa-Amr.
“But we continued (going back), my mother and I, and groups from the village, because it was harvest season, and we wanted to live and eat,” he said.
“We had nothing, and whoever was caught by the Israelis was imprisoned.”
Palestinians remember this as the “Nakba,” or catastrophe, when around 760,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes during the war that led to the creation of Israel.
The descendants of the 160,000 Palestinians who managed to remain in what became Israel presently number about 1.4 million, around 20 percent of Israel’s population.

Many of today’s Arab Israelis remain deeply connected to their historic land.
At Tuesday’s march, one man carried a small sign with “Lubya,” the name of what was once a Palestinian village near Tiberias.
Like many other Palestinian villages, Al-Husha and Al-Kassayer witnessed fierce battles in mid-April 1948, according to historians of the Haganah, among the Jewish armed groups that formed the core of what became the Israeli military.
Today, the kibbutz communities of Osha, Ramat Yohanan and Kfar Hamakabi can be found on parts of land that once housed the two villages.
“During the attack on our village Al-Husha, my father took my mother, and they rode a horse to the city of Shefa-Amr,” said Musa Al-Saghir, 75, whose village had been largely made up of people who immigrated from Algeria in the 1880s.
“When they returned to see the house, the Haganah forces had blown up the village and its houses,” said the activist from a group advocating for the right of return for displaced Arabs.
Naila Awad, 50, from the village of Reineh near Nazareth, explained that the activists were demanding both the return of displaced people to their demolished villages within Israel, as well as the return of the millions of Palestinian refugees living in the West Bank, Gaza and other countries.
“No matter how much you try to break us and arrest us, we will remain on our lands,” she insisted.