Ad ban boosts Saudi anti-smoking campaign

The largest broadcaster in the Middle East will forgo millions in advertising revenue by refusing to air a series of tobacco commercials in conjunction with an anti-smoking initiative spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, the Saudi health minister announced.

The Dubai-based MBC group rejected a 500 million riyal (about $133 million) contract to broadcast a series of tobacco commercials as a contribution in the ministry's campaign against smoking, Dr. Hamad al-Manie said.

MBC took the step in hopes that it would inspire other media in the Arab world to do the same, a spokesperson for the broadcaster told AlArabiya.net.stop.

“Sheik Waleed welcomed this initiative and gave the minister his assurance that MBC was going to be a part of this campaign so the campaign won’t be just for Saudi Arabia, but a pan-Arab campaign against smoking,” he said.

Five years ago the MBC Group, headed by Sheikh Waleed al-Ibrahim and parent company of AlArabiya.net, refused a similar contract.

Manie urged other satellite channels to follow suit and take part in the kingdom’s massive campaign against smoking by refusing all commercials for tobacco companies.

The health ministry has also filed a lawsuit against the kingdom’s tobacco franchises, demanding 10 billion riyals ($2.6 billion) in compensation for the cost of providing medical treatment for smokers.

The ministry asked for another 500 million riyals for every year of in-patient hospital care for smoking-related diseases.

The General Court of Riyadh started looking into the case, which is the first of its kind in the kingdom, in October.

Saudi Arabia, which is a signatory to the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, ranks fourth worldwide in importing and consuming tobacco, according to statistics from the GCC Council of Ministers of Health. Saudis smoke more than 15 billion cigarettes annually at a cost of more than $168 million.

In a study published in January the ministry estimated that the financial losses caused by smoking, which lowers productivity rates and causes early death, would reach 25 billion riyals ($6.6 billion).

The anti-smoking campaign aims to decrease tobacco use in Saudi Arabia to the lowest level of any Gulf country within the next three years.

It focuses on spreading awareness among youth, helping smokers to quit and protecting society from the damages caused by second-hand smoke.

Youth in kindergarten through high school are among the primary targets of the campaign. The ministry is also advocating for a law prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to children and teenagers and a ban on smoking in public places and offices.


(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid)