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Th e HEALTH | JANUARY, 2019
ISSUE: SMOKING
BY NORMAN HUSSAINI
I
T has been proven and an accepted fact that
smoking offers nothing but disease and
negative eff ects to our health and wellbeing,
and the awareness of its dangers is almost
as prominent as the cigarette itself. With
the recent initiative by the government to
widen the non-smoking zones particularly
in restaurants and eateries, the advocacy towards a
non-smoking culture has never been this strong.
Th e World Health Organization (WHO) has initi-
ated a campaign to tackle the unhealthy and deadly
smoking habit years ago, through its Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control.
Together with the framework, the global Blue
Ribbon campaign initiated by WHO was created to
rally local businesses, organizations and individuals
to promote a smoke-free lifestyle by awarding and
accrediting their eff orts – which would perpetually
attract the public to do the same.
The Blue Ribbon in Malaysia
Th e Blue Ribbon campaign in Malaysia had already
The people
has spoken
RECENTLY, there has been a petition
made by a group of health-related NGOs
in Malaysia to support the initiative of
no-smoking zones in restaurants. The
#SupportRESTART has been signed by
more than 120,000 people online, and was
an indicator that many of us are ready to
push away the smoking habit.
The petition was made via change.org,
where the public can support the movement
and have the option to chip in a few ringgit for
the cause. It was reported that the majority
of Malaysians as a whole are supporting the
initiative, and that response among smokers
were also seen as positive.
The Health Ministry has a grace period
of 6 months for establishments to adhere
to the new law. The law will also include
the smoking of e-cigarettes, vapes,
and ‘shishas’. We shall see whether the
enforcement will actually deter smokers from
lighting a cigarette on premise.
More prominent eateries had already
begun their efforts to curb smoking on their
premises, be it in indoor or outdoor seating
areas. Additionally, Wan Azrin Izani Wan
Mohd Zain of Malaysia Health Promotional
Board also speaks about the surprising effect
when restaurants adhere to non-smoking
tendencies of their customers.
“For most of the smokers who would
smoke in restaurants, the setting most fi tting
for them is during a football matches. These
are the times when they will get together and
sit for a couple of hours watching football and
smoking,” he starts.
“One of the Blue Ribbon certifi ed
establishment that has a couple of ‘nasi
kandar’ branches in Kedah and Penang did
the unthinkable. Not only did they declared
as non-smoking areas, they also didn’t
open for 24 hours, and they don’t show
football matches. Therefore their customers’
demographics became families who felt
comfortable bringing their children and
babies to eat. The shorter turnover has made
their business work without having to open all
day and night.”
Championing a
non-smoking culture
Th e Malaysian Health Promotion Board (MHPB) spearheading
the non-smoking advocacy eff orts in Malaysia
been established since 2013, where the Ministry of
Health through the Malaysia Health Promotion Board
(MHPB) began to drive non-smoking culture among
organizations in the country. Th e MHPB has signed
with WHO’s framework to become the main non-
smoking advocates in Malaysia, and they have been
busy for the last 5 years working with organizations
and NGOs to make that goal a reality.
Th e Healthy Ministry’s decision to enforce no-
smoking zones in all restaurants and eateries is at one
end of the spectrum of anti-smoking eff orts. Th e other
end of the spectrum is education, whereby volunteers
of various background and expertise promote the
dangers of smoking through organizing events and
providing literature.
MHPB positions itself in the middle of it, acting
as the driving force of advocacy to NGOs as well as
being the representative of the Health Ministry.
That said, MHPB has always
been more about advocacy
and voluntary eff orts to
healthier living.
“We in Malaysia
has taken a gradual,
step-by-step basis
in promoting a non-smoking culture. We do not have
a decree which dictates the non-use of cigarettes,
where countries such as the Philippines do,” Wan
Azrin Izani Wan Mohd Zain, Director for Corporate
Communications Division of MHPB tells Th e Health.
“Our methods are not in the two extremes, total
enforcement nor total education. Th e approach is
more in the middle. Th e government is to enforce a law
which eff ectively reduces the opportunities for smok-
ers to smoke in public, while also generating advocacy
eff orts and continuing to educate the public.”
Wan Azrin says that the target is to get NGOs
and other organisations to buy into the eff orts and
program. Only then can we truly, eff ectively, reduce
smoking among Malaysians.
Percentages and goal
“Right now, the percentage of smokers over the age
of 18 years of age in the country are at 23.1 percent.
Although the number looks to be quite small, it is
actually equivalent to 1 in 4 people in Malaysia being
smokers. One of the requirements decided in the
WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is
to have the number be reduced to 15 percent by 2025.
And ultimately, to have it at 5 percent by 2045.”
Right now, the
percentage of smokers
over the age of 18 years
of age in the country are
at 23.1 percent. Although
the number looks to be
quite small, it is actually
equivalent to 1 in 4
people in Malaysia
being smokers.”
– Wan Azrin Izani
Denormalising
smoking in
public
T
HE Blue Ribbon campaign was initiated by the
Western Pacific Division of the Who Health
Organisation (WHO) in 2012 in Singapore and
was officially launched in Malaysia in 2013 by the
Health Ministry. The campaign’s aim is to empower
and recognise individuals, groups, institutions, local
governments and other organisations to continue
working to denormalise smoking in public and
advocate for smoke-free environments.
It has been extrapolated by WHO that exposure
to second-hand smoke is a major hazard to public
health. Research had shown that there is no safe
level of exposure to second-hand smoke, with even a
brief exposure to the chemicals in them could cause
cardiovascular diseases.
In 2010, it was estimated that more than 600,000
people die each year globally from exposure to second-
hand smoke, and 28% of the deaths were among
children. In Asia and the Pacifi c, more than half of
women and children are regularly exposed to second-
hand smoke in public places and at home.
These key factors prompted the WHO to come up
with the campaign to raise awareness on the dangers
of smoking and also the harm of second-hand smoke