1 in 2 Jordanian adults smoke cigarettes

Jordan

Published: 2018-05-31 11:41

Last Updated: 2024-03-29 05:25


Tobacco use accounts for 12% of all deaths in Jordan among persons over the age of 30. (957therockstation)
Tobacco use accounts for 12% of all deaths in Jordan among persons over the age of 30. (957therockstation)

This year, World No Tobacco Day focuses on “Tobacco and Heart Disease.”

Tobacco use in Jordan is a public health emergency. It is a major driver of poor health and premature mortality. Tobacco use is a considerable threat to the economic and sustainable development of Jordan.

A report released by the World Health Organization on Thursday has revealed that one in two adult men in Jordan smoke cigarettes and one in two adults and youth is exposed to secondhand smoke.

Meanwhile, one in eight deaths is attributable to tobacco use, much worse than the global statistic of one in ten deaths.

Recent statistics show that tobacco use accounts for 12 percent of all deaths in Jordan among persons over the age of 30. Within this age group, 34% of the deceased suffered from respiratory diseases, 18% from cancer and 13% from cardiovascular diseases.

In 2004 Jordan became one of the first countries in the world to ratify the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), a legally binding international treaty.

Following this ratification, Jordan made a great achievement in developing its Tobacco Control Law as part of Public Health Law #47 in 2008 with further amendments in 2017.

In 2016, the Prime Minister endorsed the National Tobacco Control Strategy followed by the implementation of its roadmap.

To help reduce tobacco-use and consequently make significant progress in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), WHO recommends that:

1. All public places (including private businesses) should be 100% smoke-free environments, without exceptions.

2. Advertising, promotion, sponsorship and corporate social responsibility activities by the tobacco industry and its front groups should be banned.

3. Tobacco warnings should, at the minimum, meet the WHO FCTC requirements.

4. WHO FCTC Protocol on Illicit Trade of tobacco products should be ratified.