Smoking remains a major public health problem in Lebanon, with a prevalence of close to 50% among the general population. A recent survey looking at students aged 12 to 16 in Beirut and Mount Lebanon found that 10.5% currently smoke cigarettes and 29.6% currently smoke narguileh (hookah). The latter, which is popular in the region as a recreational activity, has in fact been found to be just as harmful as (if not more harmful than) cigarette smoking. Despite having ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in December 2005, Lebanon continues to have weak tobacco control policies, and the tobacco industry continues to hold a strong lobby: Many hospitals and schools are not smoke-free; tobacco advertising is rampant; and there are no restrictions on who can buy cigarettes, with a pack selling for less than a dollar. While discussions regarding the proposed law have generated some interest (a Facebook group named "Ban indoor smoking in public places in Lebanon" now boasts more than 15,000 members), overall the issue has not seen much light (and, in fact, an opposing Facebook group has sprung up: "NO to 'Ban indoor smoking in Lebanon'" with a little more than 100 members).
Widely attended by members of the public, the media, and the government, the press conference featured academicians from FHS and AUB's Faculty of Medicine, as well as government officials and representatives from NGOs. All of them strongly emphasized the need to adopt strong provisions in any tobacco control law. Their arguments focused not just on the health benefits but also on economic considerations including references to how stringent tobacco control laws would not harm tourism, the restaurant industry, or tobacco farmers. Many handouts--mostly in Arabic, but also in English and French--were distributed.
The position statement presented by FHS advocates the implementation of three main measures:
1) A total ban on tobacco smoking in indoor public areas;
2) A total ban on advertising tobacco products; and
3) The inclusion of large pictorial health warnings on tobacco products, covering at least 40% of two large surfaces of the pack with rotating messages every six months.
The current draft law proposes to have designated smoking and non-smoking zones in public areas, which studies have repeatedly shown to be ineffective in reducing the harm of second hand smoke. To demonstrate this, an experiment was conducted at the end of the conference in which the room was divided into a "smoking" and a "non-smoking" area: A machine located on the "smoking" side was used to smoke a number of cigarettes, and within eight minutes, the levels of ultrafine pollutant particles became equal on both sides of the room.
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