The Health Ministry has just released figures on the number of smokers in Malaysia aged 18 and above. Want to know how many smokers there are in the country?
Malaysia currently has a population of 28 million, and a staggering 5 million of them are smokers.
According to a news report by Bernama, Health Deputy Director-General (Public Health) Datuk Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaiman said that annually, more than 20,000 smokers die as a result of tobacco-related complications.
“Among the main complications are cancer, chronic lung disease and cardiovascular diseases,” he was quoted as saying.
In a bid to achieve its target of getting 390,000 smokers to quit smoking in three years, Lokman said the ministry had drawn up several strategies, including the launch of their mQuit quit smoking service recently.
“This mQuit programme is introduced to give smokers to get three levels of support, namely professional advice, materials to help quit smoking and enlisting the smoker’s own willpower,” he told Bernama.
This is in line with the government’s target to reduce tobacco consumption in Malaysia by 30 per cent by 2025, Lokman added.
