CAIRO: The Ministry of Health has outlawed smoking in government buildings.
This follows a series of decisions taken by the ministry within its anti-smoking campaign.
The campaign had started with a law prohibiting smoking inside all buildings open for the public, whether privately or government owned. And to further influence public opinion, the ministry, in coordination with the World health Organization (WHO), doctors’ syndicate’s chairman Dr Hamdy Al-Sayed and the Ministry of Information, forced state owned TV to run a warning of the health risks of smoking with any smoking scenes in all dramas.
The campaign started on Egyptian TV series that were broadcasted during last Ramadan holy month, and is expected to continue on all TV series that will be broadcasted on the local Egyptian network all year long, Dr Gamal Soliman, chairman of the Ministry of Health’s media center, told Daily News Egypt.
Soliman added that the ministry is adopting a comprehensive program to fight smoking, and has established a new anti smoking authority, indicating that more and more antismoking decisions are to come.
