Al Ain Municipality bans smoking in all public places

Al Ain: Al Ain Municipality will ban smoking in all enclosed public places as of April 15, according to an administrative decree issued by Awad Khalifa Bin Hasoum Al Darmaki, Director General of the Municipality.

The move, which is aimed at ensuring public health and safety, falls in line with the national anti-smoking campaign following scientific research that smoking is hazardous to human health.

It is also in implementation of the country's adopted anti-smoking campaign, "Towards a Smoking-Free and Healthy Environment."

Penalties

Appropriate legal actions, including penalties, will be imposed against offenders and violators in accordance with stipulated bylaws.

The ministry of health is to supervise the implementation of the new decree in collaboration with other related bodies.

A similar ban has also been imposed in all public places in Dubai last year.

The decision was taken by the Dubai Executive Council and is part of Dubai Municipality's Strategic Plan for 2007-2011.

Smoking in Dubai has also been prohibited at food courts and at children play areas as well. Restaurants and cafes are required to have a designated smoking section.

Fines will be imposed by Dubai Municipality on those found violating the ban.

Rates: Current trends

• About a third of the male adult global population smokes.
• Smoking related-diseases kill one in 10 adults globally, or cause four million deaths. By 2030, if current trends continue, smoking will kill one in six people.
• Every eight seconds, someone dies from tobacco use.
• Smoking is on the rise in the developing world but falling in developed nations. Among Americans, smoking rates shrunk by nearly half in three decades [from the mid-1960s to mid-1990s], falling to 23 per cent of adults by 1997. In the developing world, tobacco consumption is rising by 3.4 per cent per year.
• About 15 billion cigarettes are sold daily - or 10 million every minute.
• Among young teens [aged 13 to 15], about one in five smokes worldwide.
• Between 80,000 and 100,000 children worldwide start smoking every day - roughly half of whom live in Asia.
• Evidence shows that around 50 per cent of those who start smoking in their adolescent years go on to smoke for 15 to 20 years.

- World Health Organisation