Oman Wires It's all about Oman
Talking to Muscat Daily, Dr Jawad A al Lawati, rapporteur at NTCC, mentioned, “Some sectors of the government are trying to allow the use of e-cigarettes after they were banned in the country and this might have a negative effect.”
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry had banned the sale of e-cigarettes in 2015. With cancer circumstances increasing, enabling e-cigarettes is most likely to have an adverse impact on the healthcare of individuals. In two decades, from 1996 to 2015, more than 21,000 circumstances of cancer had been registered amongst Omanis, with an typical of 1,50 circumstances/year, Dr Lawati mentioned.
The 20-year trends information shows breast and thyroid cancers to be the most frequent malignancies affecting Omani females (accounting 21.two per cent and 10. per cent of all circumstances, respectively). “The incidence price of breast cancer practically doubled in between 1996 and 2015 from 13.six to 26.9 per 100,000 females.
“Current data also shows an increase in thyroid cancer from 2010, just about the same period of increased breast cancer frequencies,” Dr Lawati added.
He revealed that whilst breast and thyroid cancers have largely dominated the trends of cancer amongst Omani females, the trends amongst Omani guys have changed. Between 1996 and 2005, stomach cancer was the major malignancy amongst guys. “Oman always reported the highest incidence of stomach cancer among all Arab states.”
However, in 2015, the danger of gastric cancer declined to half of what it was in 2005.
Dr Lawati mentioned, as stomach cancer incidence declined from 2006 onwards, prostate cancer has overtaken stomach as the major malignancy in Omani guys (9.three per cent of all male cancers) followed by colorectal cancer (eight.9 per cent of all male cancers). “Similarly, in neighbouring GCC countries, prostate cancer was also emerging as one of the leading cancers among men with 8.1 per cent of males affected in Bahrain, 9.5 per cent in Qatar, 12.2 per cent in the UAE, and 14.4 per cent in Kuwait.”
Although lung cancer is the most frequent cancer amongst each sexes worldwide, in Oman it ranked fifth amongst guys and reduce amongst frequent cancers affecting each guys and females, according to him.
“This could be due to Oman being one of the lowest prevalence countries for tobacco use in the world, ranking 11th among 149 countries for current age-standardised smoking rates,” he added.
Recently, further selective taxes, at a price of 100 per cent of retail rates, on all tobacco goods, and power drinks, and 50 per cent on sugary and alcoholic beverages had been added to curb the burden of non-communicable illnesses danger aspects such as cancer. Fiscal policy like the sin tax when coupled with other tobacco handle techniques (e g ban on indoor smoking in public locations, tobacco advertisement, promotion and sponsorship, and public education on the dangers of tobacco use) is most likely to minimize possibilities of future lung cancer epidemics, Dr Lawati mentioned. “If items are not controlled now, Oman is most likely to see an epidemic of chronic obstructive pulmonary illness in the future.
“The recent tax on tobacco products and sugary drinks is just an initial step; more needs to be done as this is not enough.”
Dr Lawati pointed out to the very first death associated to the use of e-cigarettes quoting US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “We at CDC are saddened to hear of the first death related to the outbreak of severe lung disease in those who use #ecigarettes or #vaping devices,” CDC mentioned.
Information Source: Muscat Daily
