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UAE to mark World No-Tobacco Day

DUBAI - The UAE is marking the World No-Tobacco Day on Monday 31st May as Dr. Hanif Hassan, UAE Minister of Health is launching celebrations at the head office of Women’s Association in Dubai.

At the ceremony, Director of World Health Organization, or WHO, Eastern Mediterranean Region Dr. Hussein Abdul Razaq Al Jazaeri will announce the launch of the GCC-wide anti-tobacco campaign from the UAE.

Director General of the Executive Office of the GCC Ministers of Health Dr. Tawfiq Bin Ahmed Khoja and representatives of national, regional and international organizations will be present at the ceremony.

Monday, May 31^st is World No Tobacco Day. The theme selected for 2010 is “ Gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women”.

The WHO-sponsored day is a world-wide effort for a call to action for policy-makers, non-governmental organizations and the public to protect women from tobacco marketing and smoke. This year’s celebration also focuses on educating women of the dangers of smoking and raising the issue of women’s usage of tobacco around the world.

Studies show that women and girls represent about 20% of smokers who have reached more than a billion smokers worldwide.

In observance of World No Tobacco Day 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) is urging global action to protect women and girls against the sickness and suffering caused by tobacco use.

“The trends in some countries are extremely worrisome,” said WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan in a press release Friday. “Tobacco use is neither liberating nor glamorous. It is addictive and deadly.”