Towards a Smoke Free Malaysia

Malaysian Health Promotion Board (MySihat) had organized its first Orientation Planning Workshop; Towards a Smoke Free Malaysia which was held last 12-13 December 2011 in Negeri Sembilan, Port Dickson, Malaysia. The participants were coming from all States Health Department and a few NGOs from every region in Malaysia including Sabah and Sarawak.

This two days workshop was facilitated by Dr. Domilyn Villarreiz, FCTC Program Manager, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) with the objective to participating for the implementation of Article 8; protection from exposure to secondhand smoke.
Following the success of Melaka Smoke Free, other states in Malaysia has indicates their interest to initiate the similar program in their respective states. Melaka, indeed, has set a precedent for other states to follow suits its program.

Datuk Dr Yahya Baba, MySihat Chief Executive Officer said that MySihat has allocated more than a million Ringgit Malaysia to any states in Malaysia who want to establish smoke free initiatives in their states. He added, the workshop is designed to guide and to equip participants before the ball starts rolling for smoke free program. “It is our hope that there will be more and more smoke free zone in Malaysia”, he concluded.