In Ramadan, Muslims choose to abstain from food and drink from dawn till dusk to learn virtues such as gratefulness and to improve in God-consciousness.1 The observer must also refrain from smoking. Ramadan begins towards the end of May 2017 and for one month is an opportunity to promote smoking reduction and thus enhance smoking cessation.
Adhering to Ramadan fasting will reduce smoking in observers. The challenge is to maintain this after the fast breaks and post-Ramadan, and research suggests behavioural approaches are effective. A faith-based smoking cessation behavioural intervention during Ramadan in Malay observers found sustained smoking reduction post-Ramadan.2
Primary care staff can use encounters with fasting smokers to direct them to NHS Stop Smoking Services who can collaborate with local mosques and Muslim community centres to use Ramadan for education, promotion of reduction techniques, and securing patients for follow-up support post-Ramadan. The UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies should look to develop religiously and culturally sensitive and acceptable faith-based behavioural interventions for Muslims in the UK for use in future Ramadan months.
- © British Journal of General Practice 2017
