CAIRO - Egypt, a country where offering a cigarette is a sort of greeting, needs a comprehensive plan to reduce the number of smokers or the habit could end up reaching school children especially in the coastal city of Alexandria, a doctor recently warned. Egypt is the Middle East's largest cigarette producer and Egyptians are the region's most enthusiastic smokers, who never stop buying cigarettes even if their prices are increased. However, Egyptian cigarettes are also among the cheapest in the Middle East and a packet can cost as little as $1. A company in Alexandria has launched a lamentable promotion campaign under the theme of "Cigarettes for All", which includes selling a five-cigarette pack for just 20 cents despite a three-year-old ban on advertising and promotion to reduce tobacco consumption. "A post-revolution Egypt needs to enact national laws that set the standard for tobacco control for the entire country and are clear, strong and enforceable," Dr. Ahmed Magdi, a respiratory disease specialist, told The Gazette. He said that Egypt needs to implement comprehensive measures that will change people's behaviour and lead to fewer people smoking. Dr. Magdi said about 100,000 Egyptians get sick annually from diseases associated with smoking despite being aware of the dangers of smoking. He suggested the Government of Essam Sharaf should enforce a 2008 law that bans smoking in public places and selling cigarettes to persons below 18 years. The Government still needs to enforce law banning smoking in public places and selling cigarettes to minors to cut tobacco use, he recommended. "Although the previous government of Ahmed Nazif has banned smoking on public transport, it is still allowed in many public places, such as restaurants, and it is not uncommon to see people smoking even in hospitals," Dr. Magdi lamented. However, he acknowledged that smoking was so pervasive in Egypt that efforts to curb it would upset the majority of the Egyptians. "Fighting tobacco is not easy, especially when there is a state of monopoly on tobacco production," he said, adding that there is always be strong opposition to tobacco control in Egypt. He suggested raising tobacco prices and banning the Alexandria company from selling cheap cigarette packs to the people. "I would like to stop smoking. But I can't. When you see a cheap pack of cigarette, it has an effect. It does encourage you to smoke," said Adel Nessim, a university student. He is one of the adults in the country of 83.5 million people, who use tobacco in some form. Dr. Magdi suggested that the Ministry of Health and the local media should launch a health education campaign to explain to the people how harmful tobacco is. "The campaign must be using a variety of methods in Egypt, where the religion will work against smoking. In the meantime, it should have the active support of the young people, who participated in the January 25 revolution," he said In order to achieve its goal, the much needed campaign has to open up a new front in Egypt's media by forcing a total ban on scenes of tobacco smoking in all soap operas, or drama, or anything else, Dr. Magdi said. He said that the campaign should confront the tobacco companies' indirect methods of advertising, which encourage the young to buy their lethal products. "After the revolution, parents should raise a smoking-free generation through raising awareness about the deleterious effects of smoking," he said, adding that the campaign must target schools, universities, sporting clubs, youth centres and factories. Dr. Magdi has condemned the company's promotion campaign and accused it of killing Egyptians with cigarettes.
