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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

The passive risk

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Even if you are a non-smoker, frequent exposure to smoke from all forms of tobacco increases the risk of several fatal illnesses.


Children and adults are the worst hit due to passive smoking, which is also known as secondhand smoke.


“The more passive smoking to which you are exposed, the higher your risk of disease. This damages your body because passive smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, many of which are irritants and toxins, and some of which are known to cause cancer,” points out a study.


Passive smoking also increases your risk of coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease can cause a heart attack, angina (chest pain) and heart failure. It also increases the risk of stroke.


“Tobacco harms the health, the treasury and the spirit of Oman. Every year more than 300 of its people are killed by tobacco-caused disease, while more than 2,000 children and more than 251,000 adults continue to use tobacco each day,” says a report by Tobacco Atlas.


In the Sultanate, the risks relating to the use of tobacco are more due to absence of stringent measures.


Despite several measures to curb smoking imposed by different ministries and authorities, the high prevalence of tobacco use in Oman is raising an alarm to health officials.


“Oman should adopt a comprehensive tobacco control legislation that encompasses the highest attainable policies recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) to curb tobacco use,” urges a study published in the recent issue of Oman Medical Journal.


Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources through a decision regulates smoking in enclosed public places including workplaces, while Ministerial Order No 286/2008 on Regulation of Occupational Safety and Health regulates, among other things, smoking in the workplace.


Ministry of Health Ministerial Order No 42/2016 to Amend Some Provisions of the Regulation of the Press and Publications Law prohibits tobacco advertising in all print, audio, visual and electronic media.


Some laws ban certain types of tobacco products, including importing and sale of chewing tobacco (smokeless) and trade ban of E-cigarette and E-shisha.


“Although Oman remains a country with the lowest tobacco use among the GCC states and the Eastern Mediterranean region, its prevalence is projected to increase to 33.3 per cent by 2025,” reveals the study in the Medical Journal.


At the same time, Tobacco Atlas reveals that buying tobacco robs families of the resources they need to rise out of poverty.


Complacency in the face of the tobacco epidemic will ensure the tobacco industry continues to run roughshod over the lives of Oman’s citizens and ensure that tobacco’s death toll will grow with each passing year. Tobacco control advocates must reach out to other communities to strengthen their efforts in this mortal fight, says Tobacco Atlas.


A recent WHO study showed that Oman could achieve a relative reduction of 36 per cent, 46 per cent and 54 per cent in the prevalence of tobacco use over a period of 5, 15 and 40 years, respectively.


Although the third Global Youth Tobacco Survey was conducted in mid-2016 and plans are under way to conduct the Global Adult Tobacco Survey for the first time in Oman, a national tobacco surveillance system that involves conducting these surveys regularly in every five years needs to be firmly established.


“Such a system would provide comprehensive information on tobacco use as well as on the impact of tobacco control policies,” urges the study.


SAMUEL KUTTY


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