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Ammon News - By Khetam Malkawi/ Jordan Times

Health Ministry steps up anti-tobacco campaigns

AMMAN — The Ministry of Health is intensifying its anti-tobacco campaigns in the holy month of Ramadan, especially in so-called Ramadan tents, an official said Thursday.

Fatimah Khalifah, head of the ministry’s department of tobacco control, said smoking argileh increases in Ramadan, especially at tents and cafes after iftar.

She explained that although Ramadan tents are allowed to serve argileh, “this should be according to certain guidelines”.

“Shisha is only allowed in open spaces and in restaurants that are licensed to serve it,” Khalifah said, adding that the ministry has banned serving argileh in closed tents and instructed the Greater Amman Municipality not to license Ramadan tents unless they are in open spaces.

Only one violation has been registered since the beginning of Ramadan, where argileh was served at a tent whose owner was not licensed to do so, according to Khalifah.

Meanwhile, ministry figures showed that since the beginning of the year, 1,076 warnings and 40 tickets were issued to violators of the Public Health Law that prohibits smoking in public places.

Khalifah also noted that five warnings were given to shops that were found selling smuggled electronic cigarettes.

“Selling e-cigarettes is not allowed in Jordan, and any shop dealing with this product will be warned,” she told The Jordan Times.

A study conducted in 2011 by the King Hussein Cancer Centre showed that a single session of smoking argileh causes a significant deterioration in heart and lung function.

The study revealed that the mean carbon monoxide level before smoking argileh among test subjects stood at 3.7 parts per million (ppm) and rose to 24.4ppm post-test.

Titled “Acute effects of water-pipe smoking on pulmonary function and cardio-pulmonary exercise capacity in healthy subjects”, the study revealed that 12 out of 24 subjects could not complete a cardio-pulmonary exercise test after smoking argileh, while only nine were unable to complete it before the session.

According to the 2007 Global Youth Tobacco Survey, 14 per cent of school students aged between 13 and 15 smoke cigarettes, while 22 per cent smoke argileh.

Smoking one argileh is equivalent to smoking 15 to 19 cigarettes, which increases the risk of developing diseases such as lung cancer, according to the Health Ministry.