Health Ministry to snuff out smoking habit with new law

KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry’s decision to introduce a new legislation to address the smoking habit, through a strategy termed Generational Endgame (GEG), is seen by experts and activists as a timely move.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin is expected to table the proposed law in the Dewan Rakyat in July. On Feb 17, he announced that a new Act will be introduced to, among others, ban smoking and possession of tobacco products, including vape, for the generation born in and after 2005.

Khairy said the high cost of treating diseases associated with smoking was among the factors that drove the government to initiate the bold move.

Assoc Prof Dr Mohamad Haniki Nik Mohamed, who is the leader of Sustainable Smokefree Campus Community Flagship at the International Islamic University Malaysia, said GEG has what it takes to mitigate the onset of the smoking habit and use of tobacco products in a more comprehensive manner in the long run.

He said the tobacco endgame strategy is necessary as a survey in 2017 showed that 13.8% of Malaysian adolescents aged between 13 and 17 were smokers.

Mohamad Haniki, who is also president of the Malaysian Association of Adolescent Health and has been actively involved in advocating tobacco control measures, said current anti-smoking strategies have not shown to be effective in reducing the prevalence of smoking, which now stood at around 20% among adults in this country, with the number of smokers hitting five million.

He said each year, over 20,000 Malaysians succumb to various diseases associated with smoking, particularly cardiovascular and respiratory disorders and cancer.

“The cost of treating these three disorders alone is estimated at RM3 billion (a year). Actually, there are more than 30 types of smoking-related illnesses. So, the actual treatment costs borne by the government are far higher,” he added.

Universiti Putra Malaysia school of business and economics dean Assoc

Prof Dr Norashidah Mohamed Nor said the cost of treating diseases caused by smoking is expected to escalate by 40% in the next 10 years if nothing is done to reduce the number of smokers.

It was reported that in 2020 alone, the treatment costs for smoking-related illnesses totalled a hefty RM6.21 billion.

Consumers Association of Penang education officer N. V. Subbarow said the issue of smoking among children and adolescents is worsening, and he hoped there will be no delay in the tabling of the proposed law. – Bernama