 In August 2011, the tobacco control directorate of the Ministry of Health organized, for the first time in the country, a workshop on smoking cessation. The workshop represented a major step forward in implementation of the WHO FCTC in the country, in particular of Article 14, Demand reduction measures concerning tobacco dependence and cessation, and Article 12(d), which states that each Party shall promote and strengthen public awareness of tobacco control issues, including through “effective and appropriate training or sensitization and awareness programmes on tobacco control addressed to persons such as health workers, community workers, social workers, media professionals, educators, decision-makers, administrators and other concerned persons.”
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Developing Impactful Awareness Raising Campaigns towards Reducing Tobacco Consumption
Training Course on ‘Packaging, Labeling and Pictorial Health Warnings on Tobacco Products’
World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), the 3rd session of the Conference of the Parties
The Saudi Ministry of Health has intensified its campaign to make Mecca and Medina tobacco-free cities while Hajj pilgrims are flocking to the holy sites from worldwide. In this frame, Dr. Sameer Al-Sabban, the executive director of the Anti-Smoking Campaign in Mecca, said that they “require the cooperation of pilgrims to make the two holy cities among those with the lowest tobacco consumption in the world”.