Time to really (for real) kick the habit now: the minimum price of cigarettes will be increased from RM7 per pack to RM9 per pack from August 1 onwards.
And according to the Health Ministry, the minimum price will be raised again to RM10 per pack one year from now.
Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam told The Star Online‘s Joseph Kaos Jr that the decision was agreed to by the steering committee of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which convened today.
“This is in line with the FCTC pledge that we signed in 2003,” he said.
The committee also agreed to designate all public parks and public areas in national parks across Malaysia as no-smoking zones. Also gazetted as no-smoking zones were air-conditioned eateries.
“The implementation of these non-smoking areas will be under ‘educational enforcement’ for now on, and we hope to fully enforce the rule by Jan 1 next year,” said Dr Subramaniam.
