Host: Halo gracious viewers.
In the two and a half years that His Excellency Dr. Salih Mahdi Mutlab al-Hasnawi has been Iraq's Minister of Health，the visionary doctor has been making exemplary efforts to rebuild and reform the country’s health system.

Recently，to help reduce statistics that currently estimate 55 people die each day from smoking，the nation’s Iraq’ Parliament has imposed a new smoking ban in all government， school，and other public sector buildings. Iraq now joins Israel，Jordan and Qatar as other Middle Eastern countries that have also banned
smoking in public places. For this life-saving legislation，the Iraqi Health Minister，His Excellency Dr. Salih Mahdi Mutlab al-Hasnawi， was honored with the Shining World Leadership Award from Supreme Master Ching Hai.

From the start，Iraq’s new smoking ban has been promoted actively through a mass media campaign，
and is implemented by example – starting with the government itself. His Excellency Dr. Salih Mahdi Mutlab al-Hasnawi， explained.

(Interview in English) Dr Salih (m):  
When I address as Minister of Health，I work on many aspects of that. First， to increase the level of primary health care centers in Iraq，increase the number; and increase its quality up to the standard，at the same time to look for what’s the risk factor. And one of the most risk factors，as you know is the smoking，so I started a campaign，and after that we introduced to the Government and to the Parliament，legislation about，we called it， “Protection from Smoking Effects.”And now， in each ministry of all the Iraqi Ministries，there is a committee in the Ministry for smoking prevention，and in each governmental organization，there is a committee.