8 April 2011
APRIL 8 - According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), tobacco is the second largest cause of death in the world.
About 650 million people in the world who smoke regularly today will eventually be killed by tobacco and even more shocking is that hundreds of thousands of people who have never smoked die each year from diseases caused by second-hand smoke.
To curb smoking in Malaysia, the government was launched a nationwide anti-smoking campaign in 2004, Tak Nak, which the main objective is to get people to stop smoking and to develop an effective communication campaign that will create a nation of no cigarette smokers.
However, it was recently revealed that about four million Malaysians of our adult population are addicted to smoking. This implicit the campaign which saw millions in taxpayers’ monies being used to create awareness among smokers on the negative effects of smoking has clearly gone bust when the statistics clearly show that smoking is a hardcore habit which ranks in the same category as other drug addictions.
So, why the Tak Nak Campaign will consider fall into failure?
According to a consumer group, the “fear tactic” has been adopted by Tak Nak campaign was no longer works when it comes to curbing smoking.
The Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations’ (Fomca) adviser Datuk Prof Hamdan Adnan also said the public have become immune to the gory pictures displayed in Tak Nak campaign.
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| The gory pictures were ineffective to influence the smokers. |
“The Tak Nak campaign poster that showed a crushed cigarette was instead reminding smokers to smoke,” he said.
On the other sides, MCA President Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek was explained that one of the reason is there were lack of infrastructure and education such as counseling for those who had quit smoking during the campaign.
“Questions such as where do we go from here or the effectiveness of the campaign are not answered. Similarly, once smokers give up the habit, there is no follow up action to that.
“We should focus our attention on these matters. In light of this, the Cabinet has agreed to review the second phase of the Tak Nak campaign,” he said.
In view of this issue, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Rosnah Shirlin said it would require a long period to achieving significant change in population behaviors as there are multiple internal and external factors to determine such prospects.
"The final impact would take a few decades to manifest as there is a lag period of about 20 to 30 years between tobacco use and health burdens,” she said.
Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai stated that the ministry did not intend to end the Tak Nak campaign but planned to make it an all-year–long campaign although it is ineffective currently.
However, Hamdan urged the Government to work with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and look at new approaches to curb smoking rather than only rely on Tak Nak campaign.
“Interpersonal communications approaches such as holding talks in schools should also be employed. It remains to be seen whether such approaches will work but something definitely has to be done,” he suggested.
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