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Riyadh: A Saudi cancer patient has filed a lawsuit against a multinational tobacco company seeking a compensation of $10 million (Dh36.7 million), his lawyer said.
Ali Al Oqla, lawyer of the patient, told Gulf News that the Jeddah Public Court has accepted the petition and set July 26 for hearing the case.
Ali Aseeri, once a prominent businessman and owner of a leading contracting company in the Kingdom, has blamed tobacco consumption for serious damages caused to his health and wealth. He plans to use the compensation to build a charity hospital for the treatment of tobacco-related diseases.
According to Ali Aseeri, he was afflicted by throat cancer due to smoking.
“It caused my health to deteriorate and even lose my capability to talk. I could not fulfil my commitment towards several government departments with regard to implementation of several construction projects, thus incurring losses of millions of riyals,” he said in the petition.
Ali Aseeri said the tobacco company was responsible for his becoming penniless and a sick man as well.
“I lost all my wealth and am now working as an employee with a charitable society for a meagre salary,” he said adding “if I win the legal battle, I would use the compensation for the construction of a hospital for treatment of tobacco users free of charge.
Al Oqla said the case was the first of its kind in the Middle East in claiming such a big amount of compensation from a tobacco company.
“There were reports that some people in the United States had filed lawsuits against tobacco companies asking compensation worth $10 million. However, our case is the first in the region,” he said.
He attributed this move to fulfilling of religious and social duty to combat harmful effects of tobacco. “Multinational tobacco companies used to market cigarettes with high amount of tar and nicotine to the third world countries, especially the GCC States,” he alleged.
It is noteworthy that a Riyadh court is considering a petition filed by the Ministry of Health against American and European tobacco companies that sell their products in the Kingdom for the deaths and diseases caused by smoking. Saudi Arabia is one of the world's largest importers of tobacco in all its forms. It is estimated that people in the Kingdom are puffing out over SR5 billion annually on cigarettes and tobacco-related products. Saudis inhale 40,000 tons of tobacco smoke annually in 15 billion cigarettes.
The number of female smokers in Saudi Arabia is estimated at over 600,000 and is expected to double in the coming years, according to some studies. The studies showed that about 22 per cent of secondary school students in the Kingdom are smokers. They also stated that smoking amongst lower to mid income families is on the rise due to increasing economic, social and media pressures.
The government has taken several steps to combat smoking. A royal decree had been issued to ban smoking in all government institutions and buildings. There was also a law prohibiting tobacco companies from placing advertisements in local newspapers or television. The government’s efforts to combat smoking paid off when the World Health Organization honored the late King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz with an award in 2001 for his efforts to combat smoking when the king announced that Makkah and Madinah were smoking-free cities. The Ministry of Health is in the forefront of the anti-smoking drive. It has opened several anti-smoking clinics in various cities in the Kingdom as part of efforts to encourage smokers to give up the bad habit.
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