Together for tobacco free Hajj 2009 (1430 Hegira)

In 2002, the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia were declared tobacco free by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Since then, tremendous efforts are being exerted by the Tobacco Control Programme, Ministry of Health towards maintaining and ensuring the continuity of this initiative, particularly during Hajj (pilgrimage).

Although Mecca and Medina are visited by numerous Muslims throughout the year, during Hajj alone, nearly 4 million Muslims visit the two holy cities. Special attention is therefore given to producing materials specific to this season to raise awareness about the health hazards associated with tobacco use as well as general tobacco control related issues, as follows:

1.     Billboards and stickers with multiple anti-smoking messages are dispersed throughout Mecca and Median as well as information on cessation clinics, no smoking neon stands and the fatwa (religious edict on the prohibition of tobacco use in Islam).

2.     Buses carrying pilgrims have tobacco free Hajj stickers posted on them.

3.     At Mena, posters that read "you are entering holly cities, do not smoke" are dispersed everywhere.

4.     Folders containing pamphlets, flyers, postcards, stickers, pouches to place the “jamarat” stones, etc. are disseminated to pilgrims during the two week period.  

All the materials displayed and disseminated during Hajj are translated into six different languages to ensure widespread reach across all nationalities that visit the two holy cities at that time.

Dr. Majed Al-Munif, Supervisor-General of the Tobacco Control Program (TCP), Ministry of HealthMinistry of Health, said preparations are underway to educate pilgrims about the harmful effects of smoking and other uses of tobacco.

He said for a pilgrim who is addicted to smoking, Haj would be the ideal time to quit the habit. "As part of our campaign we coined a slogan for this Haj - "Make Arafat Day, a Quit Smoking Day." The slogan will serve as a pledge taken on the spiritual day of Haj that will enable a pilgrim to quit smoking for the rest of his life," he said.

Al-Munif said adding that the TCP has printed around 1.5 million leaflets in different languages for distribution among pilgrims including both smokers and non-smokers.

The printed educational material will be in languages such as Arabic, English, French, Persian, Urdu, Turkish, Indonesia and Swahili, Al-Munif said.

He said efforts are underway to make Makkah and Madina tobacco-free cities. There are, however, difficulties in making the two holy cities 100 percent tobacco-free because pilgrims coming from different backgrounds and cultures are addicted to smoking.

"We require the cooperation of pilgrims in order to make the two holy cities among those with the lowest tobacco consumption in the world," he said, adding that the area within five-kilometers of the Holy Haram in Makkah and Madina is tobacco-free with the sale of tobacco strictly banned.