Saudi Arabia has ratified the world's first tobacco control treaty, which came into effect in February this year, becoming the 65th country to ratify the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Dr. Abdullah Mohammed Al-Bedah, supervisor of the anti-smoking campaign at the Ministry of Health, said that the Kingdom has deposited the ratification document at the United Nations.
Saudi Arabia's joining of the treaty comes as part of the government's efforts to protect public health, Al-Bedah said, adding that the treaty would contribute to protecting future generations from the dangers of tobacco.
"With the adoption of a new international treaty, the scene is now set to protect people from the devastating impact of tobacco consumption as well as the exposure to tobacco smoke," Al-Bedah told Arab News.
"The new treaty offers a good chance for the public and private sectors to work together to implement its articles in order to make our society free of tobacco," he said.
The ratifying nations will impose a ban on tobacco advertising, place graphic health warnings on cigarette packets, take measures to protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke, increase the cost of tobacco products and make efforts to stop tobacco smuggling.
Approved by WHO's 192 member states in May 2003, the pact aims at dissuading children from smoking and helping adults stop the habit. Governments will have three to five years to change their laws in order to reflect the treaty's mandates.
The ratification of the treaty is significant as Saudi men and women consume 15 billion cigarettes, worth SR633 million, annually, according to a report released by the executive office of the GCC Health Ministers Council, Saudi Arabia is the world's fourth largest importer of cigarettes, it added.
According to the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) report, the Western Province tops with 26.8 percent of smokers in the Kingdom, followed by the Southern Province 23.3 percent and Northern Province 14.9 percent.
The Eastern Province accounts for 45.5 percent of female smokers. Women in the Central Province rarely smoke; they account for only for 3.2 percent of the total.
