RIYADH: The Ministry of Health has launched a campaign among pilgrims to make Makkah and Madinah completely tobacco free during this year’s Haj season.
“Under the ministry’s Tobacco Control Program (TCP), we have printed around 1.5 million leaflets in different languages for distribution among pilgrims — both smokers and nonsmokers,” said Majed Al-Munif, TCP’s supervisor-general.
He added that the brochures are available in languages such as Arabic, English, French, Persian, Urdu, Turkish, Indonesian and Swahili.
“We require the cooperation of pilgrims to make the two holy cities among those with the lowest tobacco consumption in the world,” he said, adding that the area within five-kilometers of the Holy Haram in Makkah and Madinah is tobacco-free with the sale of tobacco strictly banned.
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 also have anti-smoking posters on them.
The posters have also been posted all over Mina. Folders containing pamphlets, flyers, postcards and stickers will also be handed to pilgrims at the Jamarat during Haj.
Munif said the material would be available in six different languages to ensure their widespread dissemination among pilgrims from all linguistic backgrounds.
He added that Haj is an ideal opportunity for smokers to quit. “We’ve coined a slogan for this Haj — ‘Make Arafat Day, A Quit Smoking Day.’ The slogan will serve as a pledge ... that will enable pilgrims to quit smoking,” he said.
He said efforts are underway to make Makkah and Madinah tobacco-free cities, adding that there are difficulties in making the two holy cities 100 percent tobacco-free because of the language barrier.
In 2002, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah declared the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah tobacco-free. Since then, massive efforts have been exerted by the TCP and the Ministry of Health in stamping out the habit.
Over two million people visit the two holy cities during Haj each year.
“We require the cooperation of pilgrims in order to make the two holy cities among those with the lowest tobacco consumption in the world,” he said.
