According to a recent study conducted by the Research and Studies Directorate at the Ministry of Health, as many as 12 per cent of Omani men are daily smokers. When compared with the 2004 statistics (7 per cent smokers), a surprisingly increasing trend in smoking habits emerges.
According to another study conducted in 2004 and published in the Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, Omani researchers carried out a cross-sectional survey to study the prevalence of smoking among Omani adults. Crude prevalence of current smoking was seven per cent (males 13.4 per cent, females 0.5 per cent). Of this, 2.3 per cent were former smokers. The overall highest prevalence of current smoking stood at 11.1 per cent among Omanis aged 40-49 years (18.7 per cent of males, 0.9 per cent of females).
The study recommended that prevention should be addressed in health education programmes, with the emphasis on heightening awareness among adolescents and government action such as tobacco taxation, clean air laws and a total ban on advertising. Experts say the prevalence of water-pipe smoking in Oman is also increasing but there is no study and statistics available as of now.
There is an urgent need to conduct a study and survey on the prevalence and characteristics of water-pipe smoking among Omanis, say experts, adding that limited access to cigarettes and water pipes will go a long way in arresting the rising trend of smoking. Cigarette as well as water pipe smoking poses health risks to otherwise healthy people. Several Omani adults who gave up smoking during Ramadhan this year and last year said, the main culprit for the rising smoking trend is the easy availability of cigarettes and water pipes.
A recent study on “Parental smoking and risk of childhood cancer: hospital-based case-control study in Shiraz” by Edraki M, and Rambod M, aimed to determine the relationship between parental smoking and childhood cancer among mothers of 98 children newly diagnosed with cancer before the age of 14 years and 100 age. Maternal exposure to passive smoke during pregnancy increased the risk of cancer childhood. Father’s smoking prior to and during pregnancy was significantly associated with an increased risk of cancer and this increased with heavy smoking.
A study on “Effect of a Smoking Ban and School-Based Prevention and Control Policies on Adolescent Smoking in Spain” by Galán I, and Díez-Gañán L, evaluated the impact of a smoking ban in schools and of school-based smoking prevention and control policies on adolescent smoking in 203 schools and 9127 students. It found that smoking declined in the first year after the law came into force, and this decline was maintained in subsequent years. By contrast, smoking increased in those schools that did not undertake educational programmes regarding smoking.
The study concluded that the coming into force of a law banning smoking in schools, and the implementing of educational policies for the prevention and control of smoking are related to a lower risk of adolescent smoking. From this it is clear, say experts, that as long as cigarettes, water-pipes and chewing tobacco products are available easily, efforts to control smoking will be unsuccessful and hospital beds will be occupied by patients with varied diseases of the lungs, prostrate, liver and skin to name just a few.
Despite the abundance of scientific evidence confirming the health consequences of smoking and other forms of tobacco use, the tobacco epidemic remains an important public health problem. Experts say by 2030 it is predicted that more than 80 per cent of tobacco deaths will be in developing countries. In Africa and the Middle East, many local factors contribute to the initiation and maintenance of tobacco use. Although efforts to reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with smoking and tobacco dependence are underway, there is a need drastically reduce the availability of water-pipe and cigarette smoking place and products.
In the world as a whole, more deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined. Smoking causes an estimated 90 per cent of all lung cancer deaths in men and 80 per cent of all lung cancer deaths in women. An estimated 90 per cent of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease are caused by smoking.
