Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education

Introduction

Political, economic, social, cultural, environmental and other factors can all favour health or be harmful to ‘good health’. The aim of health advocates is to modify these factors to promote health. Religion too provides opportunities to improve health. It can offer motivation, encouragement and support for healthy lifestyles and behavioural choices.

The tobacco industry views religionbased tobacco control activities as a real threat. As far back as 1987, the industry had recognized the need “to develop a system by which Philip Morris can measure trends on the issue of Smoking and Islam”. Their plan was to identify “Islamic religious leaders who oppose interpretations of the Qur’an which would ban the use of tobacco and encourage support for these leaders.”

In 2002, the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia adopted a new and radical policy approach to strengthening tobacco control through religion. It launched an initiative to make the two holiest cities in Islam, Mecca and Medina, not just smoke-free but literally tobacco-free. The rationale and experiences of the Saudi government in regulating tobacco use in Mecca and Medina are examined in this report.