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cigarettes & tobacco news | 
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600,000 SAUDI WOMEN SMOKE: SURVEY
Six million people in Saudi Arabia puff out 40,000 tons of
cigarettes worth more than SR5 billion ($1.3 billion) every year
and the number of Saudi women smokers, especially teenage girls,
stands at a staggering 600,000, according to figures released by
Dr. Abdullah Al-Badah, supervisor of the anti-smoking program at
the Health Ministry.
The Kingdom, with a population of about 27 million including
expatriates, has one of the world's largest rates in cigarettes
consumption. "The Kingdom is placed 23rd among the largest
cigarette consuming countries. Annual per capita cigarette
intake in the Kingdom is 2,130 while its total annual
consumption is put at 15 billion cigarettes," Al-Badah
explained. Muhammad ibn Marzouk Al-Harithy, director of the
Charitable Society to Enhance Public Awareness against Smoking
and Drugs in the Makkah Region, estimates the annual number of
deaths in the Kingdom as a result of smoking-related diseases to
be 23,000. A large number of people suffer from chronic diseases,
including cardiac ailments and different types of cancer every
year due to smoking, he added.
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