Doha: Qatar’s public health authorities yesterday launched the field work of a comprehensive survey that will give officials more accurate data about the use and sale of tobacco products in the country.
The current statistics do not reflect the actual prevalence of the problem, making it difficult to control smoking in a growing population, senior public health officials said yesterday.
As per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey launched by the Supreme Council of Health (SCH), more than 8,000 households will be surveyed.
The self-funded survey is being conducted by SCH’s Health Promotion and Non-Communicable Diseases Department in cooperation with Qatar Statistics Authority, the regional office for the World Health Organisation and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Around 30 percent of Qatari males and 1.2 percent of females use tobacco in different forms, according to the available data.
Officials, however, said that these do not reflect the actual figures and that there is shortage of data to give an estimate about the number of people using tobacco, particularly in the expatriates community.
The survey, which begins today, will collect data from 4,000 Qatari and 4,000 non-Qatari men and women aged 15 years and above.
The labourers and servants will not be a part of the survey.
“The importance of this survey comes from the importance of the epidemic of tobacco consumption in terms of the spread among different age groups, especially young men and women,” Dr Mohammed Al Thani, Director of Public Health Department, SCH said, adding that there is a lack of data about this age group that could support anti-tobacco campaigns.
Smoking is a highly stigmatised issue in the country, especially among women and young men, which is why officials are urging everyone to actively participate in the survey.
“We know a lot of women are smoking these days and that tobacco, especially the sweka is widely used in high schools,” said Dr Khulood Al Mutawa from Health Protection and Non-communicable Diseases Department. The survey will reflect the level of passive smokers and the rate of exchange for buying different kinds of tobacco.
Qatar is the second country to implement the survey in the Arab world.
Preliminary results will be published in August this year while the final report of the survey will be published in November.
“We were planning this survey for the last two years, and once completed, Qatar will be a model for other GCC countries,” Dr Al Anood Al Thani, Director of Health Protection and Non-communicable Diseases Department, said, adding that data will be collected digitally.
Dr Dr Mohammed Al Thani also said that there is a need to increase the number of quit-smoking units in the country.
“We have been planning to have more units in primary health centres,” he said.
Survey methods used are global standard methodology for collecting data. It is using a global protocol that has been reviewed and revised to be culturally appropriate for Qatar.
The Peninsula
