Strong political will required to enforce ban on smoking in public places: Fomca

GEORGE TOWN: Strong political will is required from politicians to not be swayed by influences from tobacco companies, if we are serious about stopping people from smoking and vaping in public place, said Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) vice president Datuk K. Koris Atan.
He said these industries promote smoking and vaping among the public, are dirty, and only care about about their profits with little regards to the bad effect smoking and vaping has on health.
"Why we cannot do if Thailand and Singapore can really enforce smoking ban in public places, political will is a must to make this happen", he said during the "Handling the Emergence of New Tobacco Products: A Multifaceted Perspective" forum.
The forum which focused on e-cigarettes and vape was participated by about 100 college and university students from all over Malaysia.
The forum is part of SayWhat 2017, the National Youth Conference on Tobacco Control, jointly organised by USM and UKM Green Lung, in collaboration with Malaysian Green Lung Association, Malaysian Pharmacy Students Association (MyPSA), Malaysian Dental Students Association (MDSA), Asian Medical Students Association (Amsa) International, Malaysian Health Promotion Board (MySihat) and Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (Seatca).
Apart from Koris, the other panellists were Dr Domilyn Villareiz from Seatca, Dr Nizam Baharom, from the Ministry of Health and Ms Siti Anis Afiqah Bux Sheikh Munir Bux, former Public Health Officer of Malaysian Pharmacy Students Association.
The forum was moderated by Professor Dr Rahmat Awang the Director of the National Poison Centre.