Materia Medica Malaysiana

Government to review Tak Nak campaign

PUTRAJAYA: The Government will review the anti-smoking Tak Nak campaign after receiving complaints about its lack of direction.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said there were also criticisms over the lack of infrastructure such as counselling for those who had quit smoking during the campaign.
“Questions such as where do we go from here or the effectiveness of the campaign are not answered. Similarly, once smokers give up the habit, there is no follow up action to that.
“We should focus our attention on these matters. In light of this, the Cabinet has agreed to review the second phase of the Tak Nak campaign,” he told reporters after launching the Jom Kayuh cycling campaign at his ministry on Tuesday.
He said there had also been reports that the use of giant billboards for advertising the campaign had actually been counter-productive.
“These billboards are placed at locations where there is a lot of traffic and many drivers reported that they do not even dare look as they might be involved in accidents,” he said.