(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Urgent steps to curb shisha smoking have to be taken to save precious lives from going up in smoke, experts and activists have said.
The recent decision of Katara, the Cultural Village, to ban outdoor shisha smoking on its premises from January 1 has given the much needed fillip to concerns raised from different quarters of the society to end the practice, which has become a trendy pursuit among various age groups who are mostly unaware of the ill-effects.
A recent study by Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), cited that shisha smoking was 10 times more harmful than cigarette smoking. But many people still consider shisha safe and continue with the practice.
Dr Ahmed Abdul Kareem al-Mulla, senior consultant at HMC and the head of Smoking Cessation Clinic, told Gulf Times yesterday that more regulations should be introduced to control the use of shisha, while welcoming Katara's move.
"Some other places, such as leading coffee houses, restaurants as well as Souq Waqif, have to implement such steps.These are places where a large number of people, including ladies and children,visit everyday.
"We need to have more regulations and statutory warnings about the health hazards of shisha smoking. This will lead to more awareness among people and make them stop the practice.Unfortunately, people think that shisha is less harmful and the availability of different flavours, makes it more attractive."
Dr Abdul Rasheed, president of the Indian Anti-Smoking Society, described shisha smoking as a major social problem.
"Many people fail to understand the adverse impacts of shisha smoking. Since several coffee houses and restaurants allow people to smoke shisha inside and outside their premises, many others also become passive smokers."
Dr Rasheed also warned that the chemicals mixed with tobacco to impart various flavours makes shisha smoking more dangerous.
A resident said he has stopped going to Souq Waqif with his family. "I do not go to the place anymore, especially in the evenings, as the whole place is full of shisha smokers. I do not want to risk my health or want my wife and small kid to become passive smokers. May be the authorities need to intervene to stop shisha smoking in public."
In the Middle East and Arab world, people smoke shisha as part of their culture and traditions. According to the British Heart Foundation, shisha tobacco contains nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide and heavy metals, such as arsenic and lead. As a result, shisha smokers are at risk of the same kinds of diseases as cigarette smokers, such as heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease and problems during pregnancy.
"People smoke shisha for much longer periods of time than they smoke a cigarette, and in one puff of shisha you inhale the same amount of smoke as you'd get from smoking a whole cigarette.
"The average shisha-smoking session lasts an hour and research has shown that in this time you can inhale the same amount of smoke as from more than 100 cigarettes," a study by the foundation says.
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