Chua: Tak Nak campaign must be realistic

The Star: KUALA LUMPUR: Try convincing the 13,000 tobacco farmers to switch to other crops to help in anti-smoking campaigns, non-governmental organisations were told.
Referring to the Cabinet's decision to defer the sale of cigarettes packed in 14s to safeguard the livelihood of the farmers, Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said:
“The Cabinet felt that while some farmers have shifted to other crops, not all were successful in doing so.
“It is not a question of planting apples today and oranges tomorrow. Resistance by the farmers has not made it easy.
“I welcome NGOs, which have a lot of suggestions, to please go and face the 13,000 farmers and tell them what crops to plant other than tobacco.”
“NGOs can help in the anti-smoking campaigns but they should not target the Health Ministry as if we are their enemy,” he told reporters after witnessing the signing between the National Heart Institute (IJN) and UEM Construction Sdn Bhd-Intria Bina Sdn Bhd for the IJN expansion project.
He was responding to criticisms by NGOs that the Government was not doing enough in its anti-smoking campaigns.
According to Dr Chua, an average farmer has 4.2 family members, thus some 65,000 people are dependent on the tobacco industry.
Asked on the help given to the farmers to switch to other crops, he said: “There is no inter-ministry co-operation, but the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry and Health Ministry are very clear that we are not promoting smoking.
“The Federal Government and the state governments have to look after these 65,000 people.”
He said Malaysia was one of the few countries that had signed and ratified the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control, and would attend the World Health Organisation meeting in Geneva in February as a full member, not an observer.
“The Government is so committed that the tax increase for tobacco in the last Budget was one of the steepest,” he said.