Five million light up daily

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: There are about five million smokers in the country – four million of whom are males and one million, females.
“This is the greatest challenge of the Tak Nak campaign – the sheer volume of smokers,” said Federal Territory public health deputy director Dr Sallehudin Abu Bakar.
He said that the Government had spent about RM20mil on the campaign, in contrast to about RM300mil to RM500mil a year spent by tobacco companies on promoting cigarettes.
“The tobacco industry’s target are youngsters and non-smokers. Once these victims have been influenced, they will be addicted for many more years,” he said during Cigarette Slayer seminar at Subang Jaya Medical Centre here yesterday.
Dr Sallehudin said that for every two seconds a cigarette was inhaled, one billion micron size particles were spread throughout the body, causing health defects such as chest pain, shortness of breath, persistent cough and lung cancer.
“But once you stop smoking, you’ll be able to witness the health dividends almost immediately,” he said.
“This includes a lesser chance of a heart attack, a normal pulse rate, higher energy level, higher blood pressure and a chance to recuperate.”
The bad news, he said, was that certain damage was more permanent.
“A smoker’s lungs, once tainted, may never be healed,” he added.
“But the most important thing here is not cancer or death, but the quality of life.”
“If you can climb a flight of steps without the shortness of breath you’ve experienced before, then you’ve achieved a small victory by quitting smoking,” he added.