KUWAIT CITY, Oct 28: Kuwait has recorded the highest rate of male smokers among GCC countries, with 41 percent of men identified as smokers — a figure that surpasses both the UAE (35 percent) and Bahrain (33 percent), according to new health statistics revealed during a national awareness workshop in Kuwait City.

The revelation came from Dr. Amani Al-Basmi, Head of the Epidemiology and Cancer Registry Unit at the Kuwait Cancer Control Center, during a workshop organized by the National Cancer Awareness Campaign (CAN) as part of its Pink Lifeline initiative, supported by the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and its subsidiaries. The event, titled “The Relationship Between Smoking and Breast Cancer,” shed light on the growing health risks of tobacco use across the region.

Dr. Al-Basmi presented alarming global and regional data, noting that the number of smokers worldwide has reached one billion, with smoking responsible for 8.9 million deaths each year — including 1.3 million deaths caused by secondhand smoke. She emphasized that in the Gulf region, men continue to smoke at significantly higher rates, and smoking contributes to between 55.7% and 78.8% of all lung cancer cases among men in GCC countries.

The workshop also revealed troubling trends in cancer rates. In 2022, breast cancer recorded the highest incidence in the Middle East and North Africa, with 49 cases per 100,000 people, and the highest mortality rate at 16.6 per 100,000.

Dr. Khaled Al-Saleh, Chairman of the Kuwait Society for Combating Smoking and Cancer and Head of the “CAN” Campaign, called for stronger regional cooperation to combat the dual threats of smoking and cancer. He stressed the importance of joint efforts among health institutions to raise awareness and tackle the rising rates of smoking-related diseases across the Arab world.

Meanwhile, Dr. Hessa Al-Shaheen highlighted the growing prevalence of smoking among women in the region, warning that smoking not only increases the risk of breast, lung, and cervical cancers but also harms fertility. She noted that the association has established free smoking cessation clinics at its headquarters and at Kuwait University, offering assistance to those seeking to quit.

Dr. Ahmed Saad Al-Saleh, Senior Registrar of Surgical Oncology, further revealed that women exposed to secondhand smoke face a 24 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer. He added that smoking more than 40 cigarettes a day doubles this risk, though it gradually declines after quitting. He cautioned that hookah and e-cigarettes carry the same cancer-causing dangers as traditional cigarettes.

Adding to the discussion, Dr. Hiam El-Nemr, Surgical Consultant at Cairo University Hospitals, explained that cigarettes contain over 96 carcinogenic substances, including nicotine and radioactive materials, which directly damage the immune system and promote chronic inflammation — both of which increase the risk of developing breast cancer.

The workshop concluded with a call to action for stronger enforcement of anti-smoking laws, wider public health education, and continued support for cancer prevention initiatives, as experts warned that tobacco use remains one of the most serious public health threats in the Gulf region today.