Health Ministry launches EU-supported anti-smoking awareness campaign

The Ministry of Health launched a public awareness campaign on Monday on the significance of preventing smoking's negative effects and abiding by Public Health Law No. 47 of 2008 and its amendments, which prohibit smoking in public areas. The campaign, which was launched under the patronage of the Minister of Health, Firas Hawari, and with the support of the European Union through the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation in Jordan (AECID), aims to bring about behavioral and social change and invite members of society to adopt a healthy lifestyle by abstaining from smoking in all its forms and types and avoiding passive smoking. The minister's representative, Secretary General for Primary Health Care and Epidemiology, Raed Shboul, stressed the importance of the campaign, which came in line with the executive plan of the national strategy to combat the use of tobacco products in all their forms and types. He pointed out that the ministry's aimed, through the campaign, to preserve the pub lic health of the community and call on community members to adhere to the public health law and its role in maintaining a healthy environment free of smoking and passive smoking. For his part, the Spanish Ambassador to Amman, Miguel de Lucas, said that combating the spread of tobacco use and smoking in our societies is a challenge that requires strong political will, real commitment, and comprehensive cooperation between all parties. He added that the spread of tobacco use and smoking is deeply rooted in the social, cultural, and economic fabric of our countries, which calls for decisive action at all levels, which is why we celebrate the launch of the campaign, and we fully realize that it is not an isolated step but part of a broader strategy that includes legislation, law enforcement, awareness raising, information generation, and health care. These integrated efforts will contribute to achieving positive and sustainable results in the future. Mary Hofers, Team Leader for Governance and Human Developme nt at the European Union Delegation to Jordan, expressed the EU's pride in contributing to joint efforts aimed at raising awareness about the dangers of smoking, explaining that the EU and its partners, through the Joint Program for Health System Strengthening in Jordan, call on citizens to adopt healthy lifestyles that start with quitting smoking. Director of the Health Awareness and Media Directorate at the Ministry of Health, Ghaith Owais, gave a presentation on the campaign, its objectives and messages, which were planned in a way that achieves the Ministry's directions, represented by the Health Awareness and Media Directorate, towards focusing on implementing community activities and awareness festivals that seek to adopt the community participation approach, in cooperation with the community health committees in the governorates of Ajloun, Tafilah and Mafraq, and in cooperation with the health directorates in the governorates. Source: Jordan News Agency