Middle East Smoking Epidemic Addressed in Tobacco Report

A Lifesaving Strategy for Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

The Middle East Tobacco Report, June 2024, highlights the critical need for tobacco harm reduction (THR) strategies in seven Middle Eastern countries: Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Authored by harm reduction experts, the report outlines the potential to save nearly two million lives by 2060 through the adoption of THR, improved cessation services, and enhanced lung cancer treatments.

Despite various public health initiatives, anti-smoking campaigns and policies across the Middle East, the escalating smoking epidemic cannot be ignored. Alternative, innovative approaches – such as harm reduction – must be utilised. The report delves into how traditional anti-smoking measures, political instability, regulatory challenges, and resistance to policy change have all contributed in different ways to maintaining high smoking rates.

Considering these barriers, the report’s recommendations outline specific actions to promote THR, such as increasing public and governmental awareness of THR benefits and increasing THR awareness among physicians.

It also recommends revising tobacco regulations to support harm-reduced products, engaging influential community and religious leaders to advocate for THR, and improving lung cancer treatment and prevention strategies.

The report concludes with a call for immediate action from policymakers, healthcare professionals, and the public to embrace and support these innovative approaches to tobacco control. The report’s message is clear: innovative harm-reduction strategies are necessary for these countries to avoid high smoking-related mortality rates. With harm reduction, nearly two million lives can be saved. It’s time to make a change.