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Middle East: religion against tobacco

EMRO-WHO, Cairo, Egypt; AlAwaF@emro.who.int

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Tobacco use is a social problem and controlling it requires real change in social beliefs and norms. One thing that has worked successfully in this regard throughout the centuries in countries of the Eastern Mediterranean region is religion. Thus, whenever possible, a religious message should be activated at all different levels.

In Pakistan, health advocates designed posters to promote activities for World No Tobacco Day in May, including this one (left panel). Others were printed in national newspapers, sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline. Equally eyecatching were these banners with robust messages about tobacco, used in a rally in Karachi (right panel).

Under a plan of action developed in the World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO), the fatwa (religious edict) on smoking, issued by the Grand Mufti of Egypt, was summarised and the summary approved by the Grand Mufti himself as well as the national authority concerned. Eighty thousand posters of . . . [Full text of this article]