The best way to curb consumption of tobacco products in Qatar is to make them more expensive for consumers, according to Fatimah El-Awa, regional adviser for the Tobacco Free Initiative in the World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean regional office.

According to the Gulf Times, the official said during a recent workshop in Doha that tobacco companies get 70-80 percent of the revenue from the industry, while the government only gets about 20-30 percent. “In an ideal situation, it should be the opposite so that the tobacco companies do not benefit greatly from the sale of their products.”