JEDDAH, 13 January 2005 — Society can’t do much to control the shamal winds that blow across the deserts, but health officials say society can do more to curb the clouds being created by smokers across Saudi Arabia.
The smoking habit, a Saudi obsession, leads to dire health problems. The number of smokers is steadily increasing and with it the volume of related cases of disease, putting extra pressure on the health system.
Almost all smokers start smoking as young teenagers. Psychological problems, such as low self-esteem and a feeling of being unappreciated because of their youth, contributes to taking up the habit.
There’s also the desire to adopt a badge of adulthood.
“When a teenager, especially a male, sees a group of his friends smoking, he has the desire to act like them because he thinks it looks manly,” said Dr. Muhammad Ayman Erksousi, a consultant at Al-Amal Hospital. “They challenge him to smoke so that he can look like a man until he tries it and eventually gets used to it — even if he didn’t like it to begin with.”
Having relatives and friends who smoke increases the danger because cigarettes are more easily available. A teenager starts with half-smoked cigarettes left by others, then begins to secretly buy cigarettes.
Part of the problem is that the price of a pack of cigarettes in the Kingdom is among the cheapest in the world and that there is no law in the Kingdom that prohibits youngsters from buying cigarettes.
And nicotine is an addictive drug.
When a young smoker becomes addicted, experts say he may be led to other kinds of addiction. If he started smoking out of curiosity, he may try other, illegal types of drugs. “Hundred percent of addicts who entered the hospital as drugs addict began their addiction by smoking,” Dr. Erksousi said.
It is not cigarettes alone that are harmful, the hubbly-bubbly is actually worse. People, especially women, tend to smoke shisha in cafes believing that they look aristocratic. They dismiss the damage shisha causes thinking that it is not as harmful as cigarettes.
“Shisha is even more harmful than a cigarette,” Dr. Erksousi said. “Every shisha equals 15 cigarettes and also has nicotine. Moreover, exhaling shisha in public places can transmit infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis.”
According to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), 15,000 people die every day of smoking-related illnesses. According to one anti-smoking organization, Saudi Arabia has fourth highest number of smokers per capita in the world. There are six million smokers in the Kingdom — not only males — a growing number of women is lighting up.
Sadly, the epidemic is academic. Twenty seven percent of intermediate students smoke, while in secondary schools it rises to 35 percent. For female teachers and educators, that number climbs to 51 percent.
And while the clouds of tobacco and shisha have smokers coughing, the Kingdom is coughing up billions of riyals. In a symposium about tobacco importation’s negative effects on the national economy, Dr. Abdullah Al-Baddah, director of the Ministry of Health’s Anti-Smoking Program, contended Saudi Arabia loses SR8 billion annually because of tobacco and spends SR3.5 billion treating smokers every year.
Smoking is closely related to heart and arterial diseases as well as lung cancer. Five percent of Saudis have lung cancer from smoking. It’s not a question of if but rather when smoking will start to take its toll on the smoker.
“The period of starting to have problems depends on the immunity of each one’s body, but sooner or later problems will appear,” Dr. Erksousi said.
According to him, awareness campaigns against smoking are not enough. More activity should take place in the media to show the dangers of smoking and how it has damaged many people. “Ads and movies portray smoking as harmless — perhaps showing movie heroes with cigarettes in their hands to concentrate on solving their problems or as a way to look trendier. Warning everybody against smoking is the responsibility of everyone in our society.”
