Source: The National Newspaper (ae)
Date: 2010-05-25
Author:  Mitya Underwood And Hala Khalaf,

The new smoking ban will have little effect unless it includes
all public places, senior health officials said yesterday.

The warning came at the start of a two-day meeting to finalise
the by-laws of the Federal National Tobacco Law, which is
expected to be in place by the end of the year.

The Ministry of Health announced some details of the law in
January but has not finalised the appendix, which will provide
details on implementation and enforcement.

The law bans the sale of cigarettes to those under 18 and
prohibits smoking in cars carrying children younger than 12 and
in shisha cafes in residential buildings.

However, it includes only a partial ban on smoking cigarettes and
shisha in public and gives many places leeway to set up a
designated smoking room or area.

The draft by-law includes a list of places that cannot have
designated smoking areas; these include government buildings,
places of worship, schools, universities, hospitals, fitness
centres and all cultural venues such as theatres and concert
halls.

Dr Salim Adib, the head of public health and safety at the Health
Authority-Abu Dhabi, called for the appendix to include an
outright ban