JEDDAH: A former GCC health official has expressed concern over the rising number of medical students in the Kingdom getting addicted to smoking and urged them to kick the habit during Ramadan.

“The ratio differs between different Gulf universities, but up to 30 percent of medical students of Saudi universities smoke,” Dr. Tawfiq bin Ahmed Khoja, former director-general of the executive board of the GCC Health Ministers Council, told a local publication.

“The holy month of Ramadan is a good opportunity to quit smoking, but unfortunately many smokers fail to do that. On the contrary, they increase the rate of smoking cigarettes and shisha, especially during the night,” he said.

Khoja said that several studies have indicated that tobacco consumption in the evening during Ramadan and the night gatherings increases the process of nicotine storage in the body.

“Such storage processes on a daily basis makes the body very much saturated with toxins, thus threatening the health and life of the smoker.”

On the issue of smoking habit in the medical community, he said: “I have put in a lot of efforts through awareness programs on the harmful effects of smoking, and also urged the authorities to raise taxes and prices on tobacco products.”

“I had also put the condition in the employment contract during my office term that an employees should be a non-smoker because the office is the role model for doctors and others.

Commenting on diabetes and obesity, Khoja said the main causes are bad eating habits and poor lifestyle.

“Indicators show that 65 percent of the community members in the Gulf, particularly in Saudi Arabia, do no exercise or even walk. This reflects in the increased rate of this disease, especially type II diabetes,” he said.

These diseases cannot be controlled unless there is real cooperation from the community members, said Khoja.

“The ministries of health in the Gulf spend millions on campaigns and programs to raise awareness, but the role of individuals is the most important for preventing the diseases,” he added