Smoking in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)‎ countries

Abstract EN

-Review of available documents on smoking shows variation in the number and nature of studies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

The majority of the studies done were smoking prevalence studies while few were on tobacco consumption, smoking related diseases, and mortality attributed to smoking.

The prevalence of smoking among males in the Arabian Gulf is higher than that of their female counterparts.

The prevalence of smoking among males is higher in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia than Bahrain and Oman while that of females is highest in Kuwait.

Smoking among physicians is high in the GCC countries compared to Western countries.

Comparing smoking among physicians in GCC countries, Kuwait and UAE are on the top for male physicians, and Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for female physicians.

However, there are differences in the type of physicians sampled.

The prevalence of smoking among male and female medical and non-medical university students as well as male secondary school students is high in the region.

The prevalence data however lack uniformity in definition of a smoker and do not separate the data by nationals and expatriates.

The adult cigarette per capita consumption has generally declined in the early 90s compared to that of the late 80s.

All the GCC countries seem to have similar health warnings and statements of content and control of tar and nicotine.

The recent decrees on smoking control in Bahrain and Kuwait have put these countries ahead in other aspects of control