A tax on unhealthy products such as tobacco, fast food, soft drinks must be introduced in Oman soon, Minister of Health Dr Ahmed Mohammed Al Saidi told Times of Oman.
The minister was speaking on the sidelines of the GCC Cancer Awareness Week press conference on Sunday, following reports of a dramatic rise in the number of lung cancer patients in Oman.
Last November, the GCC governments agreed to impose a unified tax of 100 per cent on tobacco and related products, according to Kuwait New Agency (KUNA).
However, Dr Jawad Al Lawati, senior consultant and rapporteur of the National Tobacco Control Committee at the Ministry of Health, said that such taxes have not been implemented yet but must be imposed in Oman as early as possible, especially as cigarette prices here are lower compared to other countries.
Lung cancer, a disease with which 97 per cent of those diagnosed are smokers, is expected to become the most common cancer in Oman in the next five years, said Dr. Basim Al Bahrani, director of oncology and head of medical oncology at the Royal Hospital.
Commenting on Oman’s treatment quality, the Minister of Health affirmed that the Sultanate is committed to providing the best quality of medicine to patients, some of which are not even provided in Europe.
Dr. Ahmed Al Saidi added that the impact of oil crisis on Oman’s medical sector is minimal and will not affect its health service quality.
Health experts have also welcomed the World Health Organisation (WHO) calls on governments to introduce age-classified ratings for films with tobacco images to stop children from getting addicted to cigarettes and hookah.
In a report published on Monday, smoking was found in 44 per cent of all Hollywood films, and 36 per cent of films rated for young people in 2014.
Almost two thirds (59 per cent) of top-grossing films featured tobacco imagery between 2002
and 2014.
The US Surgeon General reported that adult ratings of future films with smoking would reduce smoking rates among young people in the US by nearly one-fifth and avert 1 million tobacco-related deaths. Al Lawati hailed WHO initiative saying that such drives can reduce the number of child smokers in Oman.
Many films produced outside the US also contain smoking scenes. Surveys show that tobacco imagery was found in top-grossing films produced in six European countries (Germany, Iceland, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom), and two Latin American countries (Argentina and Mexico).
Nine in 10 movies from Iceland and Argentina contain smoking scenes, including films rated for young people, the report states.
The WHO Smoke-Free Movie report, in line with the guidelines of article 13 of the WHO FCTC, recommends measures, including; requiring age classification ratings for films with tobacco imagery to reduce exposure of youth, certifying in movie credits that film producers receive nothing of value from anyone for using or displaying tobacco products in a film, ending display of tobacco brands in films and requiring strong anti-smoking ads to be shown before films containing tobacco imagery in all distribution channels (cinemas, televisions, online, etc).
In addition, the report also recommends making media productions ineligible for public subsidies for promoting smoking. According to the Ministry of Health, cancer is the third leading cause of death in Oman after traffic accidents and heart diseases.
To curb the spread of tobacco addiction, the Public Authority for Consumer Protection has recently banned electronic cigarettes and electronic shisha (hookah).
“Traders should remove all stock of e-cigarettes and e-hookah from shops in Oman in the interest of safeguarding public health,” said the PACP.
Under the ruling, a fine of OMR500 will be imposed on violators who trade in illegal cigarettes.