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The air in a cafe where shisha is being smoked is 40 times more polluted than the air outside, a study by the Smoking Cessation Clinic of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has found.
Speaking to Gulf Times on the sidelines of the second International Conference on Waterpipe Smoking organised by HMC, Dr Ahmad al-Mulla, head of the Smoking Cessation Clinic at HMC, said it was an alarming situation.
The two-day conference is discussing different ways to prevent cigarette and shisha smoking as well as the outcome of various researches on smoking and shisha use in the country and the region.
“It is very dangerous and we have put a proposal to the Supreme Council of Health to protect non-smoking people inside such a cafe. People should not be allowed to smoke inside cafes or at least they must place the smoking area outside the cafes,” said al-Mulla.
Speaking at the conference, former health minister and president of Gulf Heart Association, Qatar, Dr Ahmed Hajar Albinali cautioned that shisha smoking is as dangerous as cigarette smoking. “One session of shisha smoking is equivalent to smoking 50 cigarettes. Shisha also contains several harmful elements, which are common in cigarettes,” said explained. “Smoking is the lead cause for several major diseases, including Parkinson’s disease. Smoking is the main reason for 40% of cardiovascular well as respiratory diseases the world over.”
Answering to a question, Dr al-Mulla said there are no separate statistics on the use of shisha in the country. “As per the available figures, 37% of people in the country smoke shisha or cigarette. We will soon launch another survey about the number of people smoking cigarette and shisha separately. We will also make note of the attitudes and behaviour on different criteria.”
Dr al-Mulla also said there were many limitations to the existing law. “There should be more laws against the use of shisha, especially in public places. There must be effective measures to send out the message that shisha is not a safe option.”
He also opined that more efforts and campaigns are necessary to prevent the practice of shisha smoking. “There is a statutory warning on cigarette packs. But there is no such warning against shisha use. We are planning to propose more such specifications on shisha use,” he added.