PUTRAJAYA – A new law will be introduced to ban smoking and possession of tobacco products, including vapes, for the generation born after 2005, as a “generational endgame” for smoking in the country, said Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said the law would reduce future generations’ exposure to cigarettes and tobacco products, as tobacco use is the leading cause of cancer and contributes to 22% of deaths due to cancer.
“Meaning, if you are 17 years old and Parliament passes the Act, you will never be able to buy cigarettes in this country ever again,” he said when launching the ministry’s Cancer Day celebration virtually today.
Meanwhile, Khairy said cancer cases had increased by 11% to 115,238 from 2012 to 2016, from 103,507 cases recorded from 2007 to 2011.
It is estimated that one in 10 men and one in nine women are at risk of getting cancer, he said.
The three most common types of cancer among men in Malaysia are colorectal cancer (16.9%), lung cancer (14.8%) and prostate cancer (8.1%), while women face breast cancer (33.9%), colorectal cancer (10.7%), and cervical cancer (6.2%).
Khairy said cancer is also the leading cause of death recorded at private hospitals (34.95%) and the fourth cause of death in government hospitals (11.56%).
This year alone, he said, the government had allocated RM137 million for radiotherapy and oncology services, not including other costs such as imaging and laboratories for diagnosis confirmation, surgery and anesthesiology, and rehabilitation and palliative care.
At the event, Khairy also launched the book for the National Strategic Plan for Cancer Control Programme (NSPCCP) 2021-2025, and the book for the National Strategic Plan for Colorectal Cancer (NSPCRC) 2021-2025.
NSPCCP 2021-2025 contains the objectives and strategies for all areas of focus, encompassing prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, palliative care, traditional and complementary treatment, surveillance and monitoring (cancer registry), research and human resources.
NSPCRC 2021-2025, on the other hand, is a subset of NSPCCP 2021-2025, a colorectal cancer action plan for the ministry to control cases of colorectal cancer, the second most common type of cancer in Malaysia. – Bernama, February 17, 2022
