“Cigarette Smoking is Dangerous to Your Health” how many times have we seen and heard this slogan on TV and other media? This warning is repeated over and over again but its message doesn’t seem to reach the people because at the present time a large percentage of the world’s population is into smoking. Smoking is now a health issue in various countries and in Saudi Arabia in particular where according to stats of Saudi Arabia Health Ministry its inhabitants smoke 15 billion cigarettes a year that if you add up all the cost would amount to US$1.3 billion.
This kind of figure is quite alarming because a big percentage of the diseases are smoke-related. Throughout Saudi Arabia’s population, a quarter of it or 6 million are cigarette smokers, 600,000 women and teenage girls counted in. With this kind of figure it is not surprising that an estimated 23,000 death per year is the result of smoking. And aside from the deaths a lot of Saudi’s population is suffering from the consequences of smoking like chronic diseases, cancers and cardiac illnesses.
The Government, through the leadership of Makkah Gov. Prince Abdul Majeed is now taking some steps in order to minimize its prevalence like the launching of the anti-smoking campaign in March as well as banning smoking in all government and state establishments. A ban on advertising cigarettes in the local press and TV has been implemented as well.
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yay..more bans on smoking now thats what i like to see!..strange im at ma school and doing research on this for the UK ban which takes place in summer as its ma project for leisure studies..so i thought i wud look on waleg as i woz bored..and i find more of this info haha!! lol great :D i hate smoking..never done it and im 17.. and not planning to, but i wud luvve to try SHISHA at some strange..
i have lived in saudi arabia for a big portion of my life and i am a smoker. the problem with smoking in saudi arabia is primarily due to the ease of access in cigarettes. Example..if you are 10, you can go to your nearest variety store and buy a pack. THAT should be banned.
2. Social pressures. Older people in Saudi (and most other arab countries) smoke infront of kids. What sort of example is that? That is not the government's fault but rather the morals of people.
3. Smoking in Saudi is "allowed" everywhere. That means that even when their is a 'No Smoking' sign, people still light up a cigarette and smoke. In most restaraunts you can ask for an ashtray, even when it clearly states 'no smoking'. THAT should be banned as well.
That and some government campaings are the only way to decrease or at least try to decrease the number of smokers and thus smoke-related diseases in the Kingdom.
thats really bad, i think tunisia is like that too maybe its just the mentality of the arabs, its just part of culture. but of course its not good. i hope that smoking will be bad world wide one day, because its the people who around smokers who are suffering too..i hope tunisia bans becaz having asthma makes it harder with smokers everywhere.
btw, intro- yesterday was non-smoking day, try and give up lol :) caz you will have better life after you do
hmm interesting how the Saudian gov/muftis rationalize their laws, so if a woman is unveiled it is hamraam while smoking isn't? it can clearly be deduced from the quran and hadiths that smoking is haraam just like they deduce all kinds of even irrational laws (women can't drive, can't sit with a non mahram and i could go on and on now) and associate them with islam even if they are as far from as we are from the andromeda.
me: "but i wud luvve to try SHISHA at some strange.." why would you want to do that if there's no difference between cigs and shisha and you seem to be against smoking?:S
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