With the attendance of His Excellency the Assistant Deputy Minister for Primary Health Care, Dr. Muhammad bin Omar Ba-Suleiman, the Ministry of Health's (MOH) Anti-Smoking Program organized yesterday (Monday) the 3rd National Forum for Governmental and Non-Governmental Bodies Working in the Field of Smoking Control in the Kingdom, at Tiara Hotel Riyadh. The forum is supervised every year by the MOH, represented by the National Committee for Tobacco Control, and will discuss a number of issues about integration and coordination of efforts among all national bodies working in the field of smoking control in the Kingdom.
The Supervisor-General of the MOH's Anti-Smoking Program Dr. Ali Al-Wadie explained that the organization of the forum is coinciding with the celebration of the Kingdom and other world countries of the World No Tobacco Day on May 31st, 2015 of every year. During the gathering, he said, copies of guidelines will be distributed to help all concerned governmental bodies to organize community events in all regions of the Kingdom.
Al-Wadie said that present will be representatives of ten member ministries in the National Committee for Tobacco Control, as well as representatives of ten charitable and scientific societies, directors of the anti-smoking programs in MOH's 20 areas all over the Kingdom, in addition to a number of people interested in the anti-smoking field.
"Many working papers will be presented during the gathering, including a paper on the recommendations of the National Committee for Tobacco Control, dealing with integration and coordination of efforts among all national bodies working in the field of smoking control. Also, among the topics to be floated are the results of a study conducted by the MOH's Anti-Smoking Program on the extent of application of anti-smoking regulations in the Kingdom, in addition to the presentation of the MOH's pioneering experiment in deploying mobile clinics for quitting smoking in the Kingdom, currently applied by the Ministry in ten regions," he said, adding that some members of the National Committee for Tobacco Control and directors of a number of charitable and scientific societies will present working papers about their achievements and experiences in the field of smoking control.
On the participation of charitable and scientific societies, he said that the Kingdom is distinct from all other countries by having the greatest number of charitable and scientific societies in the field of smoking control and making significant contributions to educating the community members about dangers of smoking. He went on saying, "By organizing such gatherings, we are looking forward to further activating their role and integrating with other bodies in the fight against smoking in the Kingdom."