Society for Cancer Advocacy and Awareness (Scan) Kuching is imploring the state government, especially Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian, to implement a stricter version of the smoking ban as soon as possible in non-air conditioned coffee shops, restaurants, open air hawker centres and stalls come January 2019.
Medical research has shown that smoking and secondhand smoke leads to lung cancer which leads to death.
New cases of lung cancer are being diagnosed everyday and Sarawak is not spared the scourge.
Lung cancer can be prevented by cutting the risks from smoking and breathing secondhand smoke.
Life expectancy for smokers is at least 10 years shorter than for non-smokers and quitting smoking before the age of 40 reduces the risk of dying from smoking-related disease by about 90 percent.
Exposure to secondhand smoke causes an estimated 41,000 deaths each year among adults in the United States and causes as many as 7,333 deaths from lung cancer and 33,951 deaths from heart disease.
It is everyone’s (non -smokers or smokers alike) right to live in a healthy environment be it at your home, workplace, schools, eating places, recreation grounds or to sum it, at all public places.
As our president Sew Boon Lui has noted, “We would like to think that Sarawak is a progressive state with a progressive government where the general health of its people, both physically and mentally is of utmost importance by adopting, providing and implementing a smoke free environment for healthy living.”
We urge Dr Sim to work towards implementing an even stricter smoking ban in Sarawak immediately.
Being a medical doctor as well as an MP for the people, Scan feels Dr Sim should immediately commence adopting an even stricter policy than the federal government and the Ministry of Health if he doesn’t want to implement the MOH’s policy this coming January.
As the state government is keen on more autonomy, Sarawak should utilise state funds to improve our state’s cancer healthcare especially in terms of access to treatments.
Scan, as a voice for all cancer patients and concerned residents of Sarawak, is always in support of any policy that is beneficial to Sarawak and Sarawakians.
We salute the federal government and MOH for this giant brave step and look forward to the Sarawak government enforcing a similar or a stricter smoking ban in the Sarawak immediately.
Chris Cheng,
Secretary of Scan, Kuching
