© World Health Organization 2008

“Review of tobacco industry activities in the Eastern Mediterranean Region” is a series of reports on the tactics and plans of the tobacco industry to undermine tobacco control efforts in the Region. The industry’s activities have been widely documented by WHO and its partners, and have also been exposed following the release of the ‘tobacco industry documents’, which present compelling arguments and evidence that the unethical behaviour of the tobacco industry has extended to all levels of society across the Region.

This report reveals the tobacco industry’s vigorous targeting of the Middle East in an effort to increase its market share. The picture that emerges from the tobacco industry documents shows a powerful and influential industry operating with might in the Middle East, where public awareness of health-related issues is often low.