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Addressing a press conference at the SCH premises yesterday, Dr Mohammed Al Thani, Drector of the Public Health Department at SCH said that the survey has indicated a relatively low prevalence of smoking among the Qatari population, especially among women, thanks to the intensive anti-tobacco campaign in the country.
“Tobacco companies would target countries with low number of smokers to promote their business… They are putting pressure on Qatar to remove the graphic warning labels on cigarette packets,” said Al Thani.
He added that the warnings have a crucial role in fighting smoking, as revealed by the survey. Among the current smokers, 51.4 percent thought about quitting because of a warning label on cigarette packs and 23.8 percent of Shisha smokers said the same.
Over half of the daily cigarette smokers smoke an average 17 cigarettes a day and more than two fifths of the smokers reported having their first smoke within half an hour after waking up. About 8.6 percent of the daily smokers (20 to 34 years old) started smoking before the age of 15 years and 45.5 percent started daily smoking before the age of 18 years.
Nearly 49 percent of the surveyed heard about electronic cigarettes, that remain banned in Qatar. Eight percent had bought it or seen others buying it. Only 2.8 percent had ever used an electronic cigarette and less than one percent are currently using them.
Overall, 66.8 percent of smokers were interested in quitting but only 38.2 percent of tobacco users had tried to quit at some time during the past 12 months. Overall, 12 percent of adults who worked indoors were exposed to passive smoking at work place while 16.8 percent were exposed at their homes, and 25.9 percent were exposed in restaurants.
About 96 percent of the surveyed believed smoking can cause serious illnesses and 85.9 percent supported increasing taxes on tobacco products.
Al Thani said the new anti-tobacco law which is currently before the Cabinet will give more teeth to SCH’s anti-tobacco campaign. Dr Sheikha Al Anoud bin Mohammed Al Thani, director of Health Promotion and Non Communicable Diseases at SCH and other senior officials attended the press conference.The Peninsula
