Saudis to Sue Big Tobacco for Health Care Costs

Saudi Arabia will sue international tobacco companies unless they pay the government and patients the full cost of treating of tobacco-related illnesses, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

The health ministry has rejected an offer of compensation proposed by tobacco firms, the ministry said in a statement published on its Web site.

The ministry did not say how much it was seeking or where any law suit, the first of its kind in the region, would be filed. It did not name any companies.

Philip Morris, British American Tobacco Plc and Altadis are among the foreign firms that sell tobacco products in Saudi Arabia.

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"Representatives of tobacco companies have to pay both the patients and the health ministry for the costs of treatment," the statement quoted Health Minister Hamad al-Manie as saying.

"Otherwise, the ministry will go ahead with the lawsuit," he said.

Manie has already met representatives of international tobacco companies and informed them of plans for legal action.

Saudis consume around 15 billion cigarettes per year. They spend 5 billion riyals ($1.33 billion) a year on cigarettes and tobacco-related products, Arab News quoted Manie as saying.

Some 11.5 percent of the Kingdom's 24 million people smoke, according to latest available figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO). Local NGOs say the figure is closer to 30 percent and at least 40 percent among youth.

Abdullah al-Baddah, director of the health ministry's anti-smoking unit, said last year Saudi Arabia spends 3.5 billion riyals a year treating smokers.

Manie has said the Kingdom's efforts have failed to curb the rising number of smokers, despite having one of the most active anti-smoking campaigns in the Arab world.

The Anti-Smoking Society, a Saudi NGO, says 22,000 people die of smoking in Saudi Arabia each year.

World Health Organisation researchers said on Tuesday tobacco-related diseases, including cancers and heart disease, kill 5.4 million people a year and are expected to add another one million victims by 2015.

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