The International Women’s Alliance for Family and Quality Education (WAFIQ) abhors the proposal made by tobacco companies to the government to re-introduce small packs of cigarettes in Malaysia.
The illegal tobacco trade is by no means a justification for the government to allow legal, but less expensive ‘kiddie’ cigarette packs to be sold to Malaysians, especially the youth. WAFIQ sees this attempt as purely a capitalistic gain, serving benefits only to the tobacco companies to increase their revenue, while leaving detrimental effects to the government, society and nation.
While it may seem that the government would gain advantage from an increase in revenue through tobacco taxes should the above proposal be approved, the long-term damage caused from cigarettes far outweighs the immediate economic benefit.
Lest we forget that smoking cigarettes undeniably cause long-term chronic diseases, including pulmonary diseases such as tuberculosis, heart disease and lung cancer. In 2004-2005, these diseases have been estimated to cause the national healthcare system approximately RM 2.9 billion, of which RM 1.97 billion was burdened by the government and RM 950 million from the patients’ perspective1. As smoking contributes to not only the above three diseases, the precise cost was much likely to be higher. Re-introducing the smaller cigarette packs will only increase the already catastrophic figure.
We all know too well that the grave impact of health due to smoking not only affects the smoking individual, but also their immediate family members who have to be burdened by either inhaling the smoke themselves, or the cost involved (from buying cigarettes and treatment for smoking-related diseases), or both. This creates a negative outcome for our society, which will also disrupt the national workforce due to the decrease in number of healthy, working individuals. In short, it is a lose-lose situation for all, except the tobacco companies.
Therefore, WAFIQ urges the government to reject the ‘kiddie pack’ proposal, and instead increase its ‘Say No to Smoking’ campaigns and enforce the banning of cigarettes sale in eateries as it contravenes regulation on food handling standards.
We must all consider the long-term damaging consequences of cigarettes, kiddie pack or not, towards the nation’s health and economy.
Reference:
[1] Syed Junid, SMA (2007). Health Care Costs of Smoking in Malaysia. Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA). Bangkok, Thailand. URL: http://seatca.org/dmdocuments/10_health_care_costs_of_smoking_in_malaysia.pdf
Dr Hazlin Chong
Secretary
Women’s Alliance for Family and Quality Education (WAFIQ)
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