The Anti-Smoking Campaign launched last Wednesday, 13th March 2019 and initiated by INDEX Medical Centre in cooperation with Anti-Smoking International Alliance in London and Dubai Police represented by H.E. Butti Ahmed Bin Darwish Al Falasi, Director of Security Awareness, where he was received by Dr. Abdul Salam Al Madani, Chairman of Anti-Smoking Alliance and briefed on the awareness of anti-smoking campaign.

The Annual Board Meeting of Anti-Smoking International Alliance held in London last 19^th January 2019 with Dr. Abdul Salam Al Madani, Chairman of Anti-smoking International Alliance and Mr. John Bickerstaff, General Secretary of Anti-Smoking International Alliance, in which Dr. Almadani has been re-elected as the Chairman of Anti-Smoking International Alliance London

Anti-Smoking International Alliance signed an MOU with UDENZ earlier today at its regional office in Dubai. Through this MOU, Anti-Smoking International Alliance and UDENZ will jointly pursue their efforts in raising awareness about the effects and dangers of smoking, and UDENZ will support the goals and mission of the alliance in its fight against smoking by becoming a member in the alliance and promoting its activities in the region. The MOU was signed by Dr. Abdul Salam Al Madani, Chairman of Anti-Smoking International Alliance and Dr. Hisham Safadi, Founder & CEO of UDENZ in the presence of Eng. Anas Al Madani, vice chairman and group CEO of INDEX Holding, Sara Al Madani, Director of INDEX Media, and Dr. Salahudeen Albalushi, Director of UDENZ-GCC.

وقع الاتحاد الدولي لمكافحة التدخين اليوم مذكرة تفاهم مع شركة يودينز في المكتب الإقليمي للاتحاد في امارة دبي. ومن خلال مذكرة التفاهم سيواصل كلا الطرفين جهودهما في نشر الوعي حول آثار ومخاطر التدخين، وسوف تدعم يودينز أهداف الاتحاد في حملاته لمكافحة التدخين من خلال انضمامها للاتحاد وترويجها له في منطقة الشرق الأوسط. ووقع الاتفاقية كل من الدكتور عبد السلام المدني رئيس الاتحاد الدولي لمكافحة التدخين والدكتور هشام الصفدي المؤسس والرئيس التنفيذي لشركة يودينز بحضور المهندس أنس المدني نائب الرئيس والرئيس التنفيذي لمجموعة اندكس القابضة وسارة المدني مديرة اندكس للإعلام والدكتور صلاح الدين البلوشي مدير يودينز في منطقة الخليج.

Since 1991, European Medical Association on Smoking or Health – EMASH, publishes the present quarterly newsletter, produced thanks to the generous and complimentary support of HON, Health on the Net, an NGO of the Geneva Cantonal Hospital which hosts the EMASH website. It welcomes articles, news and other written contributions on issues of smoking cessation, nicotine dependence and smoking and health issues in general.

Download EMASH Newsletter - Autumn 2016

Dubai – UAE, May 30^th 2016: The State of Kuwait have been selected among many countries to host the Global Anti-Smoking International Alliance Conference – 2016. The decision was made unanimously by the board of trustees at the alliance, and by this, Kuwait will be the first country to host the conference outside the USA and Europe. This announcement coincides with the “World No Tobacco Day” which is observed around the world on the 31^st of May.

Recent statistics indicates that in the Middle East region and particularly in Kuwait; smoking is a significant threat on society. Meanwhile, the authorities and non-profit organisations are putting great efforts in combating smoking and saving the community, and in-line with this vision, the Kuwait Society for Preventing Smoking and Cancer, and a smoking committee are working diligently to organise a number of programs and events in collaboration with the Anti-Smoking International Alliance to host the Global Conference, which is being organized by INDEX Fahrast, a Kuwaiti national company from Kuwait.

The conference will be running for two days starting December 14^th 2016 in Marina Hotel, Kuwait under the theme “Together we Combat Smoking for our Generation and the Next”. The event is designed to create a platform for specialists and public where they can share knowledge, expertise and tell their success stories in addition to the challenges that they have been through while quitting this habits.

Moreover, the conference will also shed the light on the tools & techniques used, and how the social community and concerned parties can join their efforts to combat smoking; especially after the numbers and statistics that have been announced at events organized by the Alliance and other concerned parties around the world.

Recent statistics revealed that there are more than one billion smokers around the world, which causes over six million deaths annually. As per the Tobacco Atlas released by the American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation at the 16^th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Abu Dhabi in 2015; the percentage of smokers in Kuwait reached 31.3%. Moreover, there are 13 male and 1 female deaths who die as a result of smoking in Kuwait weekly. The Anti-Smoking International Alliance and the Kuwait Society for Preventing Smoking and Cancer had joined their efforts to hold this conference and send an effective message to the community in order to invite the concerned parties to participate and set new tools and techniques to prevent this malady.

Dr. Abdul Salam Al Madani, Chairman of the Anti-Smoking International Alliance and the board of trustees at the Alliance, have welcomed the result of the bidding considering this as step further to promote anti-smoking in the Middle East and Arab World. They have also expressed their optimism about the success of this conference, after the great results of the first seminar of the alliance in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, in April 2016.

Dr. Al Madani said: “today is the World No Tobacco Day, and I am very proud to say that since 1991, the members of the Anti-Smoking International Alliance and I have been working relentlessly on educating the community about combating smoking, following our motto “Towards a Smoke-Free World”. It gives me great pleasure to remind everyone about their inherent natural powers and capabilities to cease any bad habit.”

“We need to join our efforts to reduce the number of smoking fatalities, as well as passive smoking, and that can happen by educating, advising and supporting each other to eliminate this malady. We should all stand together in supporting this endeavor, not only for the benefit of the human beings’ health, but also for the benefit of our environment and nature, in addition to help lower the spiraling expenses of smoking and the expenses of medical treatment that have recorded high amounts in some countries.” Said Dr. Al Madani

Moreover, Dr. Abdul Salam Al Madani expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the state of Kuwait, and its leadership, and also to H.E. Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awadi, Chairman of the Kuwait Society for Preventing Smoking and Cancer, and to Mr. Anwar Borahmah, Chairman of the Anti-Smoking Committee at the Society, Secretary General, Gulf Federation for Tobacco Control, for their unwavering efforts to build this collaboration beside their great efforts towards the community wellbeing and educating them on the dangers of the smoking and its consequences that effect the health, environment and economy.

Dr. Al Madani also extended his gratitude to Dr. Fahad Al Fadala, Director of INDEX Fahrast, and Dr. Esraa’ Aldeaiji, Conference Coordinator, for their great efforts in organising this conference and for their enthusiasm to achieve successful results which will reflect positively on the community, experts and the public.

دبي – الامارات العربية المتحدة، 30 أيار مايو 2016: بعد منافسة عدد من الدول لاستضافته، فازت دولة الكويت باستضافة المؤتمر العالمي للاتحاد الدولي لمكافحة التدخين ٢٠١٦وذلك بعد مناقشة ملفها من قبل مجلس الأمناء في الاتحاد، ليكون هذا أول مؤتمر للاتحاد يُقام خارج أوروبا وأمريكا. وتتزامن هذه المناسبه مع اليوم العالمي لمكافحة التدخين الذي  يصادف 31 ايار مايو.

هذا وتبذل الجهات الرسمية وجمعيات النفع العام المختصة في دولة الكويت جهوداً حثيثة للارتقاء بالمجتمع الكويتي وتخليصه من هذه الآفة ومثيلاتها. حيث ظهر في الآونة الأخيرة اهتمام متنامي لدى دولة الكويت بموضوع مكافحة التدخين وتبعاته، إذ تشير الأرقام والاحصائيات الأخيره إلى أن التدخين بات خطراً كبيراً يهدد المجتمع الكويتي والمنطقة والعالم.

 وتطبيقاً لهذه الرؤية تعمل الجمعية الكويتية لمكافحة التدخين والسرطان ولجنة مكافحة التدخين على عدد من البرامج والفعاليات، أبرزها المشاركة في إعداد المؤتمر العالمي للاتحاد الدولي لمكافحة التدخين، الذي تنظمه شركة فهرست الوطنية الكويتية، والذي سيقام في الفترة من ١٤-١٥ ديسمبر\كانون الثاني ٢٠١٦ في الكويت العاصمة، تحت شعار “معاً نكافح التدخين من أجل أجيالنا والأجيال القادمة”.

وتأتي الحاجة الملحة لإقامة هذه الفعاليات العلمية والأكاديمية الموجهة إلى المختصين والعامة من أبناء المجتمع، بعد أن قامت مخرجات الندوات والفعاليات التي يقيمها الاتحاد والجهات المعنية حول العالم بدق ناقوس الخطر. إذ تشير آخر الأرقام حول هذا الموضوع إلى وجود أكثر من مليار مدخن حول العالم، مما يتسبب بأكثر من ستة ملايين حالة وفاة سنوياً، كما تشير الاحصائيات الواردة في الأطلس الذي أطلقته جمعية السرطان الأمريكية والمؤسسة العالمية لصحة الرئة خلال مؤتمر ‘التبغ أو الصحة’ العالمي في أبوظبي في العام ٢٠١٥، إلى تصدّر دولة الكويت من بين دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي، في قائمة الدول الأكثر تدخيناً، حيث بلغت نسبة المدخنين فيها نحو 31.3% من السكان، مما يتسبب بوفيات أسبوعية تقدّر بثلاثة عشر من الذكور وأنثى واحدة.

هذا ويهدف الاتحاد الدولي لمكافحة التدخين بالتعاون مع الجمعية الكويتية لمكافحة التدخين والسرطان لإقامة هذا المؤتمر العالمي على أمل توجيه رسالة مؤثرة في المجتمع، ومخاطبة الجهات المعنية من خلال دعوة لبذل المزيد من الجهود واعتماد آليات من شأنها الحد من هذا الخطر.

ومن جانبه رحّب رئيس الاتحاد الدولي لمكافحة التدخين، الدكتور عبد السلام المدني، وأعضاء مجلس الأمناء للاتحاد في مقره بلندن في المملكة المتحدة، والأمناء المتواجدون في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية وسويسرا وشرق آسيا، بنتيجة المناقشات التي اعتمدت دولة الكويت كمستضيف للحدث، معتبرين ذلك خطوة بناءة ضمن جهود الاتحاد الرامية إلى نشر التوعية والتثقيف من خلال مؤتمرات وندوات علمية وأكاديمية في منطقة الشرق الأوسط والعالم العربي، ومتفائلين بتحقيق نجاح الكبير في هذا المؤتمر المزمع إقامته، بعد نجاح الندوة الأولى للاتحاد في دبي في ابريل الماضي.

وأضاف الدكتور عبد السلام المدني: “يصادف اليوم اليوم العالمي لمكافحة التدخين، وبهذه المناسبة، يسعدني باسمي وباسم زملائي في الاتحاد التأكيد على استمرارنا في تحقيق أهداف الاتحاد الرامية الى الحد من هذه الآفة. وإنه من دواعي فخرنا أننا ومنذ نشأة الاتحاد في العام 1991 في لندن بالمملكة المتحدة، لم ندّخر جهداً في سبيل مكافحة هذه الآفة الصحية والاجتماعية، من خلال حملات التوعية والبرامج والجوائز التي من شأنها الحد من مخاطر التدخين، واضعين نُصب أعيننا، شعار الاتحاد “نحو عالم خالٍ من التدخين”
وأضاف الدكتور عبد السلام المدني: “يداً بيد، بوسعنا التكاتف لتقليص أرقام وفيات المدخنين والمتضررين من التدخين السلبي، وذلك من خلال تشجيع المدخنين على الاقلاع عنه والتوعية وإسداء النصائح لهم ومساندتهم ودعمهم، حتى بلوغ الهدف الذي يعود بالنفع على صحة الفرد والمجتمع والبيئة، وكذلك تقليص الخسائر المادية وما يكلف المدخنين والدول من مبالغ طائلة سنوياً على منتجات التدخين ومن ثم العلاج، وادخار تلك التكاليف من أجل إنماء المجتمع”.

وتقدم رئيس الاتحاد الدكتور عبد السلام المدني، بالتهاني إلى دولة الكويت، وإلى معالي الدكتور عبدالرحمن العوضي، رئيس الجمعية الكويتية لمكافحة التدخين والسرطان، وإلى الأستاذ أنور جاسم بورحمة، رئيس لجنة مكافحة التدخين بالجمعية، والأمين العام للاتحاد الخليجي لمكافحة التدخين، على التعاون مع الاتحاد للإعداد لهذا الحدث ومشيداً بالجهود المستمرة والسعي الدؤوب نحو تحقيق خطوات ملموسة تجاه رعاية صحة الفرد من مضار التدخين وما ينجم عنه من عواقب تؤثر سلباً في المجتمع والبيئة والاقتصاد الوطني.

كما تقدم الدكتور عبد السلام المدني بجزيل الشكر إلى حضرة الدكتور فهد الفضاله مدير شركة فهرست، والدكتورة اسراء الدعيجي، منسق أعمال المؤتمر، وقد أثنى على الجهود المبذولة في تنظيم الفعاليات الأكاديمية التي تعود بالنفع على المختصين والمجتمع، ومشيداً بمستوى الاحترافية لفريق العمل وحماسهم لتنظيم هذا المؤتمر.

E-Cigarette are More Harmful than the Normal Cigarette and Contains 45 Poisonous Chemical Components in addition to Nicotine

There are 1 Billion Smokers in the World, 100,000 Out of them are Kids 

Dubai – United Arab Emirates, April 19^th 2016: The Anti-Smoking International Alliance -ASIA organized a seminar in Dubai aiming to spread awareness about the harmful effects of smoking and helping community to follow the required steps to quit. Fifteen speakers from 10 countries from different health, academic and educational backgrounds came to share their experiences and knowledge with the audience yesterday. The seminar covered a number of interesting topics about this unhealthy habit and the consequences on individual’s health and the people around him. The seminar was held under the motto: “Together we combat smoking for our generation & the next generations”.

Dr. Abdul Salam Al Madani, Chairman of the ASIA welcomed all members and speakers to the seminar, and extended his gratitude to all participants and attendees who came to benefit from the seminar. The seminar sessions concentrated on spreading awareness and knowledge about the disadvantages of smoking and the negative habits associated with them that affects individuals, families and societies as a whole in addition to the unnecessary expenses.

Dr. Al Madani also explained: “imposing strict rules and regulations is not the only approach to eliminate this unhealthy habit, we should also join our efforts to spread awareness and educate the society about the consequences of smoking. We really need to educate families, schools and universities and include this topic in the school curriculum in order to raise a healthy generation that is aware of the negative outcomes of smoking.”

“Statistics revealed that smoking kills 6 million individual annually. Moreover, 80% of tobacco consumers lives in low and middle income countries. Those statistics are an indicator to the need for hosting more scientific and educational activities such as seminars and workshops, and we thought that this seminar will be the beginning for a series of educational activities that aims for spreading awareness among community.” Added Dr. Al Madani

Prof. Tawfik Khoja, Director General, Executive Board, Health Ministers’ Council, For Cooperation Council States emphasized on joining efforts in all GCC and Arab countries in order to combat smoking. He also refereed in his speech to a number of success stories for regional initiatives launched by some governments. He said in his speech: “together we can make a difference, not only to our generation but to the generations to come. We should join our efforts to adopt several approaches and initiatives and apply them on all GCC countries.”

“In 1979, we started a mission to combat smoking in the GCC. The mission was very successful and we issued more than 45 regulations on a ministry level since then. Our efforts to combat tobacco has shown dome effectiveness, however we still need some support from the society in general. We also need to start banning ads that promote cigarettes and also ban sponsorships for games and competitions.” continued Dr. Khoja

Dr. Partha Nandi, Internal Family Physician, Creator and Host, Chief Health Editor in the United States delivered a very impressive presentation during his participation at seminar. Dr. Nandi referred to education and public awareness, he also said: “we need to deal with tobacco as a killer and smoking as disease. We need to treat those people not blame them and we should start at family level then empower public. The amount of money spent on this bad habit is massive, and the number of individuals who die from smoking every year is 6 Million human individual. Moreover, there are 500$ Million dollars spent annually on medical treatment. There are also 1 Million smokers in the world right now and 100,000 kids will start smoking as we speak.”

From his side, His Excellency Dr. Ali Alwadey, Supervisor General, Tobacco Control Program, Ministry of Health in KSA shed the light on the important role of governmental and official organisations to eliminate this habit. He also shared with the members and the audience the experience of KSA in this matter. He said: “our main objective from this seminar is to encourage international cooperation to fight and combat smoking. In KSA, we have been working hard for the past few years to provide preventive and curative services through mobile clinics to help smokers quit.”

Dr. Ali also said: “KSA is the first country in the world that promoted the mobile clinics in public areas throughout the country. The goal behind this initiative is to gather all related sectors in KSA to work side by side to combat tobacco including ministry of education, finance, customs and trade. We have also launched a cartoon character named “Battalt” which means “I quit” in favor for this initiative and also to spread awareness among kids and teenagers through all media channels and advertising in an endeavor to show them the unpleasant outcome of smoking.”

At the end of the seminar, speakers and members agreed unanimously on a number of recommendations for this year that focuses on spreading awareness among community and educate them about the bad outcome of smoking. The members also focused on banning the e-cigarettes and try to stop all advertisement that promote them.

On this matter Mr. Mohammed Al Houqani, Assistant Dean for Education and Academic Affairs and Assistant Professor and Consultant at the UAE University said: “The harm caused by smoking e-cigarettes is much worse than traditional smoking. E-Cigarettes initially were introduced as a way to reduce smoking and by time quit, but unfortunately it is used to now as a tool to promote smoking.”

“Until now, we don’t know exactly what the chemical components of the E-cigarettes are and we assume that there is significant harm that have not been discovered yet.” Continued Mr. Mohammed

Members of ASIA also presented full studies on the chemical reactions inside the e-cigarettes and provided proofs how those reactions are higher than the normal cigarette because e-cigarettes contains more than 45 poisonous chemical components in addition to nicotine itself and multiple heavy metals that comes out of the battery. Moreover, statistics have proved that the toxic flames that comes out of smoking reach others as well and that’s what is called second hand smoking, and those toxic flames are defined by the WHO as dangerous and prohibited for humans. Members also proved that nicotine have the potential to reach the central nervous system within 7 seconds after it reaches the lungs.

The Anti-Smoking International Alliance was founded in 1991 in London, as a nonprofit organization with a vision to spread awareness about the unhealthy consequences of smoking among society in general and those working in the health sector in particular. The ASIA also launched the “Tom Hurst Annual Award” for the best anti-smoking initiative proposed by professionals working in hospitals and medical centers, and after the success of this initiative, the alliance applied this initiative on different private and public sectors. Moreover, the ASIA received a number of awards and recognitions for their achievements, most notably the “Health Pioneer Award” in 2009.

In 2014, Dr. Abdul Salam Al Madani from the United Arab Emirates was chosen to be the chairman of the Alliance. Since he was selected to be the chairman of alliance, he worked in cooperation with the Board of Trustees of the Union on restructuring and drawing the outline of the objectives of the alliance in the future.

ASHGABAT: Health-obsessed former Soviet Turkmenistan is the country with the world’s lowest proportion of smokers, World Health Organisation chief Margaret Chan said during a visit to the isolated nation on Tuesday.

Chan said that just eight percent [8%] of the population smoked, according to WHO figures.

“Recently a WHO overview showed that in Turkmenistan only 8 per cent of the population smokes,” Chan told the country’s authoritarian President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who is a dentist by training.

“This is the lowest national indicator in the world. I congratulate you on this achievement,” she said at a health forum in the capital Ashgabat.

Cited by state media, Chan noted that the country ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2011 by which time it had already banned smoking in public places.

Also speaking at the forum, Vera Luiza da Costa e Silva, Head of the Convention Secretariat, challenged the Central Asian state to drive smoking down to five per cent of the population in the coming years.

In 1990, 27 per cent of Turkmen males over 15 and 1 per cent of females smoked.

A decade later Turkmenistan banned smoking in public places, state buildings and the army, as well as all forms of tobacco advertising.

By comparison, 31.1 per cent of the global male population over the age of 15 smoked in 2012, while 6.2 per cent of females were smokers.

President Berdymukhamedov, in power since the death of eccentric predecessor Saparmurat Niyazov in 2006, is a keen equestrian, while Niyazov campaigned against smoking and built a 36-kilometre “path of health” into the mountains surrounding Ashgabat which government officials were forced to walk.

This April the gas-rich country of more than five million held a month of public exercises and sporting events under the slogan “health and happiness.”

Agence France-Presse
Image source: Daniel Feher, freeworldmaps.net

The newly appointed U.S. Surgeon General’s Commendation letter as attached warmly commended all our helpful Arizona and other collaborators working together for many years on Tobacco Control at city, state and national  levels. (both Past and Present) Our Arizonans Concerned About Smoking (ACAS) team thanks all who jointly deserve credit for the history making early  achievements of the past laying early foundations for others, plus those still vigorously moving forward. We especially commend both Tempe and Kingman, Arizona, passing their “NO Smoking in Cars with  Children” ordinances in May 2015, plus earlier City public Tobacco control law amendments  treating electronic cigarettes with the same restrictions in public and workplace NO Smoking Areas as regular tobacco cigarettes.

Arizona was actually the site in 1983 for achieving the World’s first totally Smoke-Free Hospital. It was at Keams Canyon, Arizona, U.S. Public Health Service  Indian Hospital on the Hopi Indian Reservation where both Hopi and Navajo  Indian Native American patients were served. We received strong support and International encouragement from Mr. Tom Hurst, Founding leader of The Anti-Smoking International Alliance (Erlier, The International Network Towards Smoke-free Hospitals), located in the U.K.

The above Attachment second page shows Arizona Medical Association ( ArMA) Resolution # 8-15. It stresses that stronger  Physician leadership is needed in the future for better educating both impressionable youth and adults about problems with electronic heated nicotine cigarettes and other similar aerosolized heated chemical emission gadgets.

With appreciation to Surgeon General Murthy & Warmest regards and thanks to all,

(Surgeon General Murthy supports all College/University Campuses becoming 100% Tobacco Free including No electronic cigarettes. There are now over 150 such totally Tobacco Free Campuses in the USA (outdoors & indoors) and the number is rapidly growing.  All major  airlines in the USA now have banned all smoking on their flights including electronic cigarettes.

Letter and Photo – US Surgeon General

Leland L. Fairbanks
MD, MPH, Family Physician (“old country doctor grandpa”)
President, Arizonans Concerned About Smoking (ACAS)
Trustee, Anti-Smoking International Alliance

Arizonians Concerned About Smoking have named the International Network Towards Smoke-Free Hospitals as one of twelve recipients of its Health Pioneer Awards. This presentation was made before an audience of over 2000 U.S. tobacco education and prevention workers from 50 states at a two-day national conference in Phoenix, Arizona, in June 9 2009.