The Ministry of Health, represented by the Tobacco Control Program, has issued the comprehensive Saudi guide to help citizen give up smoking. This guide serves as a scientific and standardized reference for all providers of this service with a view to ensuring a provision of treatment services based on evidence-based medicine.
- Medicines helping to quit smoking were provided. They are alternative for Nicotine and Farcolin.
- As many as 28 new centers for smoking cessation were inaugurated in the Kingdom during three years (1430-1432H), bringing the total number of tobacco control centers to 70 clinics.
- Some training courses were offered for health staff (physicians and nurses) in the year of 1432H. The courses shed light on the approved scientific methods to quit smoking. At least 170 physicians and nurses have benefited from such courses all over the health affairs directorates in the Kingdom. In 1433H, a number of training courses were launched, benefiting more than 300 physicians, nurses and administrative officials. Up to three training courses were provided for employees at universities. Nearly 50 physicians and nurses working at universities and some government agencies have benefited from these courses.
Studies and Research in the field of Combating Smoking:
- The Kingdom has participated in the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (13-15 years) in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the sessions (2001, 2007 and 2010).
- The Kingdom has participated also in the Global Health Professions Student Tobacco Survey in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the sessions (2007 and 2010).
- In addition, the Kingdom has participated in the Global School Personnel Tobacco Survey in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the sessions (2007 and 2010).
- Domestic studies were carried out, such as conducting a preliminary field study on the spread of the smokeless tobacco in the Saudi society, as well as study on evaluating the World Day's tobacco control campaign in 2010, and a study on evaluating tobacco control systems in schools.
- Currently, the Kingdom gets ready to launch the first session of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey.
Other Activities
- Issuing the tobacco-free work environment guide to be used as a reference at all institutions in the Kingdom.
- The National Tobacco Control Committee has issued in its meeting in November 2011 a recommendation commissioning the Tobacco Control Program, as well as the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) to develop a mechanism for examining the contents of all tobacco products authorized to be traded in within the Kingdom.
- Sticking warning pictures on the packages of tobacco products in the Kingdom and in the Gulf states.
- The Ministry of Health (MOH) has added a question on smoking in the medical file at the health sectors.
Laws and Regulations in the field of Combating Smoking:
The Kingdom has enacted a series of laws and regulation with a view to curbing the spread of this scourge, more importantly:
Royal Decree no. 7/78 /M dated 11/1/1404H (corresponding to 18/10/1983): It banned smoking at the offices of ministries, government departments, public institutions as well as their branches and subordinate units. It also ordered to hang banners bearing tobacco control messages, and to follow up the implementation of this matter very carefully.
- Royal Decree No. 7/772 dated 9/3/1404H (corresponding to 14/12/1983): It ordered to stop publishing advertisements on smoking in local newspapers and obliged foreign newspapers to warn of dangers of smoking when advertising tobacco products.
- Royal Assent no. 7/5/748 dated 15/1/1416H (corresponding to 14/6/1995) to raise tariffs of tobacco and its derivatives to 50%, then to 70% and then to 100% as of 1/7/1997.
- Royal Assent no. 46 dated 1/2/1428H (corresponding to 19/2/2007) to form the National Tobacco Control Committee.
- Council of Ministers' Resolution no. 241 dated 9/7/1431H (corresponding to 21/6/2010): It ordered to issue regulations banning smoking at all the Kingdom's international and domestic airports and their facilities.
- The need to totally ban trading in the electronic cigarette in the GCC states; in line with the directives of the World Health Organization (WHO) and recent studies in this field.
- The Minister of Higher Education's decision to ban smoking at all universities in the Kingdom
The Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs' decision not to sell tobacco products to those under the age of eighteen.