EGYPTIAN smokers spend an average of nearly 22% of their income on tobacco, said the country’s health minister. The minister said Egyptians spend $1,08-billion every year on tobacco, which for an individual smoker averages almost 22% of their income. Egypt, home to nearly 68-million people, consumes about 85-billion cigarettes every year, according to 2001 figures. This amount is growing by about eight percent per year. The average Egyptian income is estimated to be at about $1 200 dollars per year. The government has put in place a programme which should ban smoking entirely in government buildings and institutions by 2009. – AFP