Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education

The Tobacco Free Initiative announces the release of a WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation scientific advisory note on waterpipe tobacco smoking. This advisory note addresses the growing concerns about the increasing prevalence and potential health effects of tobacco smoking using waterpipes, a practice which dates back for at least four centuries in Africa and Asia. The note will provide guidance to WHO Member States and other research agencies interested in a more thorough understanding of the health effects of waterpipe smoking. The English printed version will be available in October 2005. This document will also be translated to and printed in Arabic.