(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) To mark no tobacco day 450 shops refrained from selling cigarettes
Hussain Nasser Lootah Marwan Al Mohammed and other senior DM officials at the World No Tobacco Day ceremony held at the Dubai Municipality headquarters on Sunday. — Supplied photo
Dubai - Dubai outlets have been hailed for spreading awareness about the dangers of smoking and stopping cigarette sale on the occasion of the World No Tobacco Day on Sunday.
The Director-General of the Dubai Municipality Hussain Nasser Lootah praised the efforts made by private companies in showing solidarity and cooperation with the municipality’s public health campaign to stop the sale of tobacco products for a day.
As many as 450 shops in Dubai including all petrol stations voluntarily refrained from selling cigarettes while several others joined the initiative since the civic body had sent letters requesting all shops to participate in the campaign year the sixth year after the drive began in 2010. Staff at petrol stations wore event-themed T-shirts and caps to spread the message of the day while many other outlets put up the awareness messages on screens in their shops.
Noora Mohammed Musairi head of the planning and development section at the Public Health and Safety Department who had said the municipality had sent letters to all the shops that sell cigarettes to refrain from their sale on Sunday clarified that no punitive action would be taken even if any outlet which had not voluntarily agreed to participate in the campaign was found selling cigarettes.
“As I said it is a public health initiative and we expected all to participate. The letter did not mean we will take any action against them but I believe most of the shops stopped the sale of cigarettes today” said Musairi who is coordinating the initiative this year.
Lootah pointed out that since the introduction of the laws and awareness campaigns a significantly high response has been seen among Dubai outlets and as a result several individuals have even stopped smoking.
Hundreds of residents have already signed up for the quit-smoking contest under the theme “Quit. Save Your Life” launched by the municipality and the Dubai Health Authority.
“The campaign will help reduce the number of smokers in the emirate and spread community awareness about the harmful effects of smoking among different categories of community including children and various schools.”
Lootah was speaking after inaugurating the World No Tobacco Day ceremony held at the municipality’s headquarters. A number of participants of the campaign sponsors as well as some other outlets that have completely stopped the sale of tobacco products were honoured at the function. Prizes were distributed to the winners of a painting competition that was organised for school children.
Also municipal employees and customers at the headquarters were offered free carbon monoxide checks. They were also encouraged to sign up for the smoking cessation programme. A video presentation and an exhibition were also held to mark the day.
The Director of the Public Health and Safety Department Marwan Al Mohammed highlighted the efforts taken by the municipality to comply with the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and to protect the present and future generations not only from the devastating health consequences of tobacco but also of social environmental and economic menace caused by use of tobacco and exposure to its smoke. He said gifting chocolate boxes to smokers trashing their cigarette packs and signing up for the smoking cessation programme was a novel approach adopted this year.