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Saturday May 11, 2013

Stand up for your rights (and lungs), non-smokers urged

By FLORENCE A.SAMY
florenceasamy@thestar.com.my


KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians have been urged to stand up for their rights and protect their lungs from second hand smoke.

Those who inhaled second hand smoke could be taking in 7,000 chemicals of which 70 are cancer causing agents, said the Health Ministry’s tobacco control unit’s senior principal assistant director Dr Sukhvinder Singh.

“Second-hand smoke is dangerous. It causes harm to everyone including children and pregnant women,” he said after the launch of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Health­care Sdn Bhd’s (GSK) “Pledge to Quit Right” campaign yesterday.

The campaign, which ends on June 16, encourages the people to pledge for a cigarette-free Malaysia while motivating smokers to snuff out their habit.

Dr Sukhvinder urged smokers not to be caught up with the e-cigarette craze which he said was not a healthy replacement.

Earlier in his speech, the ministry’s deputy director-general Datuk Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaiman said tobacco was the leading cause of preventable death in the world, attributed to about five million deaths a year.

“In Malaysia, the prevalence of tobacco use is approximately 22.48%,” he said. Dr Lokman said most Malaysians preferred a smoke-free environment.

GSK’s wellness Asia area marketing director Soumitra Sen said the holistic campaign included elements to improve the success rate of quitting such as consulting certified smoking cessation service providers, garnering support from family and friends and using tested systems such as the three-step 12 week quit smoking plan.

The company’s marketing wellness head Raymond Khor said their aim was to increase awareness on the right way to quit smoking.

Pledges could be posted on the ‘Pledge to Quit Right’ board at roadshows as well as mobile ones transported by radio cruisers, he added.

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