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Efforts
on to make Makkah and Madinah tobacco-free
Tuesday November 02, 2010 08:00:46 AM,
ummid.com Staff Reporter
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Malegaon:
As Haj pilgrims flock to the Kingdom from across the world, the
Ministry of Health has intensified its campaign to make Makkah and
Madinah completely tobacco-free, according to the Arab News.
“We require the cooperation of pilgrims to make the two holy
cities among those with the lowest tobacco consumption in the
world,” the leading Saudi English daily quoted Dr. Sameer Al-Sabban,
executive director of the Anti-Smoking Campaign in Makkah.
The sale of tobacco is strictly banned in the five-km radiuses of
the Grand Mosque and Holy Mosque in Makkah and Madinah.
Billboards and posters with
anti-smoking messages, information regarding anti-smoking clinics
and fatwas on the subject are on display in the two cities.
Buses carrying pilgrims have
anti-smoking posters on them, and folders containing pamphlets,
flyers, postcards and stickers will also be handed to pilgrims at
the Jamrat during Haj.
“A team of scouts and health officials have taken positions at the
Grand Mosque in Makkah to raise awareness about the health risks
caused by this ugly habit,” said Al-Sabban.
“It’s a pity that smokers gather at the back side of the Grand
Mosque to smoke which is hazardous to the entire environment of
the holy city. These Saudi youths look for smokers within the holy
city and politely give them Miswaks and booklets full of
illustrations which can be understood by all people,” he said.
To assist pilgrims, the ministry has set up six anti-smoking
clinics in the holy city as part of the campaign. The clinics are
open to male and female smokers and services are offered free-of
charge.
Makkah is the ideal place to quit smoking, said Al-Sabban, adding
that one million of the five million people who die of smoking
every year across the world are Muslim.
“This is mainly because of their
extravagant lifestyles and lack of knowledge of the hazards of
smoking,” he said, adding that smokers not only harm themselves
but also other people who come near them through passive smoking.
Haj is an ideal opportunity for smokers to quit and those who
realize the ill effects of smoking will discontinue for their own
sake, he said. A group of Saudi physicians and psychiatrists is
helping the anti-smoking campaign, while a host of well-known
websites are assisting with the campaign’s promotion.
It is estimated that in the Kingdom 35 to 40 percent of people
above the age of 15 smoke. Around 24 percent of male students
between the ages of 13 to 15 years smoke, while eight percent of
female students smoke. The Kingdom joined the anti-tobacco
agreement in May 2005.
Saudi Arabia ranks fourth among
world countries in tobacco imports and consumption. More than 15
billion cigarettes, worth $168 million, are smoked by Saudis each
year, according to figures issued by the Gulf Cooperation
Council’s Health Ministers Council.
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