Answer The Call Of Ramadan And Stay Healthy

Tawam Hospital implements no smoking law from first day of Ramadan

Tawam Hospital, in affiliation with Johns Hopkins Medicine, today announced full enforcement of its smoke free campus policy from the first day of Ramadan.

The initial ban on smoking at Tawam Hospital began on May 30, 2010 as a first step towards the adoption and enforcement of the UAE’s Federal National Tobacco Law, which prohibits smoking in all public areas or property except for designated indoors or outdoors smoking areas. Although the law has not yet been fully enforced, buildings such as schools, universities, hospitals, theatres, and fitness centres which are frequented by the public will have to abide by the full smoking ban in the near future.

Following the success Tawam Hospital’s initial ban, full implementation of the smoke free campus policy will now take effect from the first day of Ramadan, in conjunction with fasting periods. The total ban on smoking across the campus goes beyond the scope of the Federal Law and reflects Tawam Hospital’s status as a centre dedicated to protecting the health and wellbeing of its patients, employees and visitors and the policies of Abu Dhabi Health Services Company PJSC (SEHA), which owns and operates Tawam, to ensure that SEHA facilities are operated to the highest international healthcare standards.

“Some smokers want to stop, but without help many fail to succeed,” said Steve Matarelli, Chief Operating Officer of Tawam Hospital. “Research conducted by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) shows that important occasions – including Ramadan and the start of a new year – are a good time to give up smoking. We therefore decided to fully implement the no smoking policy during the holy month of Ramadan in a bid to help more patients and visitors give up smoking for good.

“We also wanted to ensure that all Tawam Hospital staff, patients and visitors have the chance to breathe easy in a smoke free and healthy environment. Secondhand smoke is a serious public health hazard which can easily be prevented by making public places smoke free zones,” Mr Matarelli added.

From the end of May, Tawam Hospital replaced all ‘No Smoking’ signs on hospital property with a sign clarifying that smoking is illegal. In addition, all designated smoking areas throughout the hospital campus were closed at Tawam Dental Centre, Al Jahili and Neima Primary Care Clinics, Al Wagan Hospital, and the Regional Blood Bank.

“Smokers can improve their health just one hour after of giving up tobacco, as their blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal.” said Mr Matarelli. “The harm caused by smoking is well documented, the NHS Asian Tobacco Helpline data shows that people who smoke more than 25 cigarettes a day are 25 times more likely to die from lung cancer and almost twice as likely to die from heart disease as non-smokers,” Mr Matarelli added.

Tawam Hospital is part of the SEHA HealthSystem and is owned and operated by Abu Dhabi Health Services Company PJSC (SEHA) which is responsible for the curative activities of all the public hospitals and clinics in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The hospital is managed by Johns Hopkins Medicine International.
 

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