07 October 2007
MADINA is expected to become the first smoke-free city in the Kingdom within the year followed closely by Makkah, according to the Smoke Combat Charitable Society. Arabic daily Al-Hayat quoted Khalid Bin Mohammad Al-Thobaity, the Secretary General of the society, as saying that they have stepped up the campaign from merely informing people of the health hazards smoking poses, to preventing non-smokers from taking up the habit.
MADINA is expected to become the first smoke-free city in the Kingdom within the year followed closely by Makkah, according to the Smoke Combat Charitable Society. Arabic daily Al-Hayat quoted Khalid Bin Mohammad Al-Thobaity, the Secretary General of the society, as saying that they have stepped up the campaign from merely informing people of the health hazards smoking poses, to preventing non-smokers from taking up the habit.
The municipalities of Makkah and Madina are all for the drive. After forcing shops to stop selling cigarettes by stamping their licenses with "selling smoke or its derivatives is prohibited," the cities are applying strict laws to go entirely smoke-free.
Dr. Yassir Bahader, an oncologist at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, said that every year more than 250 people, mostly men, in Saudi Arabia are diagnosed with lung cancer from smoking.
He added that if smokers can abstain from smoking in daytime during Ramadan, then they can kick the habit even without the help of nicotine patches and other devices that only reduce the symptoms of smoking and not the addiction.
© The Saudi Gazette 2007
