RIYADH, 6 December 2006 — The Kingdom will take its anti-smoking drive to Madinah this year during the Haj season, according to a senior official in the Ministry of Health.
“For the past three years, we have been successfully carrying out an anti-smoking campaign in the holy city of Makkah and this year we are taking it to Madinah where pilgrims go to visit the Prophet’s Mosque,” Abdulaziz Al-Hudaithi from the ministry’s anti-smoking unit explained.
He added that a team of health officials would man the entry points to the mosque complex to distribute pamphlets informing pilgrims of the negative effects of smoking. The pamphlets are printed in a number of languages, including Arabic, English, Turkish, Urdu, French, Bahasa, Malayalam, Tamil and Mandarin.
A team of 25 health officials from the ministry will enlist the support of local volunteers to carry out the campaign in Madinah as well as in Makkah. “The campaign in Makkah is necessary to continue the smoke-free situation in the holy city,” he added.
Dr. Sameer Al-Sabban, consultant of Family and Community Medicine at the Ministry of Health in Makkah, told Arab News that Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed was personally interested in making the holy city smoke-free. Under his initiative, a special committee headed by Vice Governor Abdullah Al-Fayez has been assigned to carry out the anti-smoking campaign in the city.
Dr. Sabban, who heads the anti-smoking unit in Makkah, said there was a total ban on the sale of tobacco within the holy city and that local authorities would punish merchants who violated the ban. He also said that the committee, composed of senior officials from the municipality, governorate and Ministry of Health, would not allow pilgrims to smoke behind the holy mosque. “Smokers think it is a convenient spot for them to smoke,” he said, pointing out that the smokers are oblivious to non-smokers who are also pilgrims.
He said that eye-catching billboards and posters discouraging smoking had been displayed in all public places in Makkah and Mina and particularly at the Haj Terminal, inside buses and at shopping malls.
“Haj is a good opportunity to quit smoking. Pilgrims like to take back good memories from the holy city. Let the smokers among them make a resolution to give up smoking during their visit to the holiest place on earth,” Dr. Sabban said.
