Table 2.

Existence of interventions to promote healthy diet in the countries of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Countries	Any Policies on Marketing of Food to Children 1	Any Policies to Reduce Salt Consumption 1	National Policies on Saturated Fatty Acids/Trans-Fatty Acids 1	National Policies on Saturated Fats 1	National Policies on Trans-Fatty Acid Elimina-tion 1	Specific Measure to Ban or Virtually Eliminate Industrial Trans-Fatty Acids 2	Tax on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (Level of Tax Levied) 3
Low-income countries
Afghanistan	x	x	✔	x	x	x	x
Somalia	n.d.	n.d.	x	n.d.	x	x	x
Sudan	x	x	x	x	x	x 5	x
Syria	x	x	x	x	x	x	n.d.
Yemen	x	x	x	x	x	x	n.d.
Lower-middle income countries
Djibouti	n.d.	x	x	x	x	x	x
Egypt	x	✔	x	x	x	x 4,5	n.d.
Morocco	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	x 4	✔ (50%)
Pakistan	x	x	x	x	x	x 8	x
Occupied Palestinian Territory 6	x	✔	✔	n.d.	x	x 4,5	x
Tunisia	x	✔	✔	✔	✔	x 4,8	✔
Upper-middle income countries
Iran	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔ (20%)
Iraq	x	✔	✔	✔	n.d.	x	x
Jordan	x	✔	✔	x	✔	x 8	x
Lebanon	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Libya	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
High-income countries
Bahrain	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔7	✔ (50%)
Kuwait	x	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔7	x
Oman	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	x 5,7,8	✔ (50%)
Qatar	x	✔	✔	✔	✔	x 5,7	✔ (50%)
Saudi Arabia	x	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔ 7	✔ (50%)
UAE	x	✔	✔	✔	✔	x 5,7	✔ (50%)

¹ Global Health Observatory noncommunicable disease data indicators (https://apps.who.int/gho/data/view.main.2473); ² Countdown to 2023: WHO report on trans-fat elimination 2020 and information from nutrition focal points ³ Information from country nutrition focal points on existence of a tax and, where available, the level of tax levied, e.g., 50% of pre-tax price; ⁴ Assessment has been conducted to identify sources and intakes; ⁵ National action plan or legislation under development; ⁶ All Palestinian data obtained from Ministry of Health; ⁷ The Gulf Standards Organization adopted GSO standard 2483/2015 for the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council—implementation varies between countries (see text); ⁸ Other complementary measures in place; n.d. = no data. ✔ = policy/measure reported, x = no policy/measure reported.