The Minister of Social Development and Acting Minister of Health Dr Fatima Al Balushi said that Bahrain would remain fully committed to implementing the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).
Dr Al Balushi addressed in her speech marking the World No Tobacco Day on 31st of May 2011 the WHO FCTC in the fight against the epidemic of tobacco use since it’s the first international treaty negotiated under the auspices of WHO. It was adopted by the World Health Assembly on 21 May 2003 and entered into force on 27 February 2005. It has since become one of the most rapidly and widely embraced treaties in United Nations history in which 172 countries became Parties.
As for the Ministry of Health’s role, Dr Al Balushi confirmed that since 2009, His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa have signed a law on combating tobacco and controlling its consumption. Established under this legislation, the National Anti-smoking and Tobacco Committee has mustered all its capabilities to enforce the agreement, banning smoking in shopping malls, schools, universities, restaurants, the airport, worshipping venues and work places.
The panel is also enforcing the anti-smoking legislation, regulating sheesha smoking countrywide. Bahrain spares no effort to promote the dangers of smoking, organising media campaigns round the year, stepping up control of tobacco imports, increasing taxes, in addition to providing tobacco de-intoxication treatment for addicts at special clinics.
Dr. Al Balushi noted that the WHO FCTC was developed in response to the globalization of the tobacco epidemic and is an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health. The Convention represents a milestone for the promotion of public health and provides new legal dimensions for international health cooperation.
She called for enhanced cooperation to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and passive smoking, all in request of other community leaders, scholars, clerics, columnists, the press, the audio-visual media and schools and universities to take part in the awareness-enhancing campaign and highlight the lethal dangers of smoking, as well as the role of the WHO initiatives to contain tobacco consumption avert its detrimental pitfalls.
Despite the promising progress that the region has so far witnessed since the beginning of the development of the Convention, a more comprehensive approach still needs to be adopted if rapid and sustained reduction in tobacco consumption is to be achieved.
Tobacco use is one of the biggest contributors to the epidemic of non-communicable diseases, such as heart attack, stroke, cancer and emphysema, which accounts for 63% of all deaths, nearly 80% of which occur in low- and middle-income countries. Up to half of all tobacco users will eventually die of a tobacco-related disease.