Compass – Anti-smoking cadres in the Ministry of Health have issued violations and warnings to 878 facilities and individuals since the beginning of this year, in addition to closing 22 facilities due to smoking, according to the director of the Ministry’s Awareness and Community Media Directorate, Dr. Abeer Mousous.

Mossos indicated that the ministry has issued 97 violations and 759 warnings to facilities and individuals who have violated the Public Health Law related to smoking in public places since the beginning of 2022.

She said that the ministry is working to implement the smoking prevention policy in health institutions to enforce the Public Health Law, as visits have been carried out to 8,344 facilities.

She explained that there are severe penalties for smokers in the main ministry building, noting that the ministry has opened a smoking clinic in the building in addition to allocating a smoking place outside the ministry building.

The number of visitors to smoking cessation clinics reached 2257 people, of whom 100 quit, while the total number of smoking cessation clinics reached 26 clinics in the Kingdom.

Mossos pointed out that the Ministry of Health has authorized the Greater Amman Municipality to enforce the Public Health Law to prevent smoking in enclosed spaces.

The Greater Amman Municipality and the Ministry of Health signed an agreement to delegate inspection tasks for smoking violations, which was drafted between the two sides in cooperation with the World Health Organization.

The agreement aims to confront the large spread of the scourge of smoking, especially among young people, as a statistic covering the last twelve months showed that 50 percent of smokers have the will and desire to stop this scourge, but they need support and assistance.

The signing of the agreement allowed the secretariat team, which will undergo training, to carry out the tasks of inspecting smoking violations, in the public interest

Citizen’s health.

The agreement also allowed the Ministry to liberate its cadres and resources to monitor other issues, including the control of smoking in all private economic activities outside the scope of the Secretariat and all public facilities, hospitals, and public and private health centers in the Kingdom.

It is noteworthy that Jordan amended the Public Health Law in 2017 to expand the definition of public places and increase the protection of citizens from the harms of tobacco products.