While Dubai — which has already banned smoking in enclosed public places — yesterday imposed curbs on shops from selling tobacco products including cigarettes to youth below 20 years, Sharjah geared up to implement the ban on smoking from today.

The Ministry of Health (MoH), meanwhile, announced that setting up smoking cessation clinics across the emirates is at the forefront of its fight against smoking  which, according to estimates, is a habit of 48 per cent of the people in the UAE.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Dr Wedad Al Maidoor, head of the MoH's tobacco control team, said in Abu Dhabi that it hopes to implement an anti-smoking programme of both prevention tailored to youth and treatment provided by smoking cessation clinics.

'By the end of the year, there will be a total of five smoking cessation clinics in the country. We have plans to establish two clinics every year in areas where they are most needed. We opened a clinic in Ajman and another in Fujairah, and we plan to open a new clinic in Dubai by the end of June,” said Dr Wedad.

In Sharjah, smokers and owners of 17 places in which smoking is prohibited like shopping malls and restaurants have to be aware of the fines of Dh1,000 for individuals and Dh10,000 for the owners for violating the ban.

According to Dr Salah Al Haj, Director-General of the Sharjah Municipality, from today, the municipality would set up hotlines dedicated to receive complaints from the public about violation of the ban. The inspectors will be deployed in the places where smoking is prohibited.

Meanwhile, the enclosed public places like malls, restaurants, cafes and salons said they would arrange special places for smokers.

With the Dubai Municipality launching an initiative titled 'Tobacco-Free Youth', banning sale of all kinds of tobacco products to people below 20 years, senior DM officials said the groceries and supermarkets have the liberty to ask for age proof from the customer if they suspect that the person is underage.

'From today, the DM will conduct checks to see if anyone is selling cigarettes to underage persons. Anyone caught violating would be fined,' said Salem Mesmar, Assistant Director-General of Health, Safety and Environment Control section at the civic body.

People under the age of 20 will also not be allowed to enter the designated areas for smoking in public places.

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