Low tobacco use but high disease rate in Oman

The Executive Office of the Gulf Health Ministries has released a report putting Yemen on top of the list of tobacco consumers in the GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council) and among all Arab nations, according to a story in the Times of Oman.

Saudi Arabia was second on the list and it was followed by Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar.

The Times story did not divulge what the incidence of tobacco use was in most of the countries, but it said that less that 12.3 percent of the Omani population consumed tobacco.

Despite this low consumption rate, the Ministry of Health figures showed that 70 percent of Oman’s residents ‘suffered some kind of ailment related to smoking’.