Malaysia - about 368,000 teenager smokers in the country, 50-60 added per day..

December 7, 2009 - Kota Kinabalu (formerly Jesselton, is the capital of Sabah state in Malaysia. It is also the capital of the West Coast Division of Sabah) -- About 368,000 teenagers in the country - almost the number who sit for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination each year - have developed a penchant for smoking. And the number is growing with records showing 50 to 60 teenagers picking up the habit each day.

Malaysian Health Promotion Board (LKPM) Chief Executive Officer Dr Yahya Baba who disclosed this, Saturday, December 5th said what was worrying was that fatalities due to tobacco-related illnesses were also increasing.

Speaking at the Penampang secondary school level sketch competition themed "Anti-Smoking Campaign" here, he said overall there were 4.6 million smokers in the country, eight per cent of them being teenagers Seven secondary schools - SMK Limbanak, SMK Bahang, SMK Putatan, SMK Tansau, SM St Michael, SMK Taman Datuk Peter Mojuntin and SMK Taman Tun Fuad - competed in the event which was jointly organised by the Kota Kinabalu Cultural Art Society (PSBKK) and LKPM.

Yahya said the awareness-raising campaign was timely and hoped it would increase youngsters' awareness on the dangers of smoking and prevent them from developing the habit. Yahya said LKPM was ready to allocate grants to any society or non-governmental organisation (NGO) intending to hold programmes promoting a healthy lifestyle. Such programmes need to be expanded so that awareness about health care could be advanced, he added.

"It is very important since health is the main key to promoting healthy lifestyle in Malaysia especially to youngsters," said Yahya. He said the event was in line with the LPKM's objective to plan and implement health promotion activities for the benefit of the community by placing special concentration on youngsters. He said health programme need not have to be anti-smoking campaigns but also other issues faced by most people in the country such as diabetes, AIDS and heart disease.

Deputy State Speaker Datuk Johnny Mositun, who officiated at the competition, commended the effort by LPKM and PSBKK in organising the programme. He said by focusing on secondary school students the said organisations showed they were serious about wiping out the smoking culture among teenagers. Mositun also urged the authorities to inspect cyber caf}s in every district as he had received complaints from parents about some cyber caf}s frequented by problematic teenagers.

He said this is to prevent students, who frequent these Internet premises, from mingling with the problematic group who could introduce them to smoking, among others.

Meanwhile, SMK Tansau won the competition and received RM1,000, a trophy and certificates, while SMK Putatan and SM St Michael came second and third, respectively. SMK Putatan and SM St Michael received RM800 and RM500 respectively as well as certificates.

Also present was PSBKK President Zhamriee Gulam Rasul, who was also the organising chairman of the event.

Reference: 368,000 teens into smoking yearly, Daily Express, 12/6/2009.

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