[Intl-tobacco] Malaysia: Health Ministry Embarks On A More Aggressive Anti-Smoking Campaign

[robert weissman]

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news.php?id=206131


July 01, 2006 18:40 PM 	E-mail this news to a friend
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*Health Ministry Embarks On A More Aggressive Anti-Smoking Campaign*

* *

KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 (Bernama) -- The Health Ministry has embarked on a
more aggressive anti-smoking campaign to help reduce the number of
smokers in the country, now estimated at 4.6 million.

Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek Saturday said an allocation of RM7
million had been provided for the three-month campaign which began today.

It hoped to raise the percentage of smokers attending clinics to help
them kick the habit from three per cent presently to 10 per cent and
increase from 19 per cent to 30 per cent the number of teenage smokers
to want to quit smoking, he told reporters here.

Earlier, Dr Chua had launched his ministry's family day celebrations and
"Jom Makan Secara Sihat" (Let's Eat Healthy) campaign at the Forestry
Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) in Kepong here.

This campaign comes in the wake of the "Tak Nak" anti-smoking campaign
that was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in
2004 but did not produce the results it sought.

In Malaysia, more than 50 per cent of the men smoke, which compared to
advanced countries like the United States (35 per cent) and United
Kingdom (38 per cent), is rather high.

Of this, about eight per cent involve teenagers.

Dr Chua also said that besides the anti-smoking campaign, several other
campaigns on health were also planned during the three-month period and
that a total of RM22 million had been set aside for the purpose.

This involved campaigns on living healthy lifestyles, prevention of
HIV/AIDS, dengue fever and thalassemia, he said.

-- BERNAMA