Activists Say Tak Nak Campaign Hampered By Mixed Signals

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 (Bernama) -- The first round of the anti-smoking "Tak Nak" (Don't Want) media campaign last year has managed to increase awareness of the dangers of smoking but is undermined by what anti-tobacco activists describe as " conflicting signals".
Health Ministry sources said this year's campaign will focus more on how to quit smoking, with the help of a stronger network of government Quit Smoking Clinics and a new hotline.
But anti-tobacco activists say the campaign is threatened by the conflicting signals sent out by postponing a ban on small packs of cigarettes to the year 2010 and allowing TABINFO 2005, billed as the "largest Asian tobacco show ever", to be held in Kuala Lumpur from Nov 14 to 16.
The "Tak Nak" campaign, launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in February last year, is due to spend a total of RM20 million on anti-smoking promotions and education over five years.
The Prime Minister also signed the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in New York in September this year. This treaty agrees to prohibit tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship on radio, television, the print media and the Internet within five years, and also bans tobacco company sponsorship of international events and activities.
The Health Ministry is in the process of appointing an advertising agency for this year's "Tak Nak" campaign, which it hopes to hold by year-end.
A comprehensive evaluation of the 2004 campaign by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) found that awareness of the anti-smoking messages after the campaign was quite high.
This year's campaign will target the factors affecting smokers' behaviour, he said. In addition to the existing Quitline at USM's National Poison Centre (04-6572924), the ministry is launching its own hotline for smokers who want to quit (03-88894876).
The number of government Quit Smoking Clinics has been increased from 167 last year to over 200 this year while about 280 staff have been trained to assess, counsel and treat smokers who want to quit.
Smokers with low dependency will be motivated to quit while an option for those who are moderate or heavy smokers will be nicotine replacement therapy in the form of gum, patches and inhalers. But non-governmental organisations (NGOs) worry that delaying the ban on small packs of cigarettes, which was supposed to be enforced last year, then this year, then next year and finally has been postponed to 2010, will send a different message.
"Any measure which makes smoking affordable promotes smoking among the poor and the youth," warned Assoc Prof Dr Lekhraj Rampal, chairman of the Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) committee under the Malaysian Medical Association.
Calling on the Cabinet to reconsider the decision, he pointed out that under the Food Act 1983, cigarettes must be sold in unopened packets containing at least 20 cigarettes.
"We were all looking forward to the banning of the so-called "kiddie pack" because that pack is more affordable to young people," said president of the Malaysian Thoracic Society, consultant respiratory physician Prof Liam Chong Kin.
"The delay in the ban will allow more young people to take up smoking," he said.
Article 16(3) of the FCTC says, "Each party shall endeavour to prohibit the sale of cigarettes individually or in small packets which increase the affordability of such products to minors," noted another Health Ministry source.
"The postponement would inevitably send ambiguous message about tobacco control in Malaysia," the source said.
"Efforts made through "Tak Nak" to persuade the general public against smoking, especially among children and youths, may be nullified by this postponement...In order for tobacco control to be effective, it must be comprehensive," the source added.
The anti-tobacco lobby also criticised the TABINFO 2005 tobacco show hosted in Kuala Lumpur while a Health Ministry source said this would "transmit unclear signals about commitment for effective tobacco control."
"The government is spending millions on the Tak Nak campaign, showing that it is serious about reducing smoking in the community," said Rampal. "Allowing Malaysia to be used as grounds for promotion doesn't make sense," he said. "By allowing the conference to go on, we are contradicting the FCTC ban on tobacco advertising and promotion," said Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control president Prof Syed Mohamed Aljunid.
"Since we are party to the FCTC, we should not allow it to be held in our country. If we allow people to advertise and promote tobacco, it will nullify the effect of the Tak Nak campaign to create awareness on the danger of smoking," he said.
USM and 28 other NGOs and institutions have collected about 50,000 signatures opposing the exhibition and they plan to deliver them to the Prime Minister, he said.
The professor called for anti-smoking promotions in Malaysia to be funded by "sin taxes" on cigarettes, as Thailand had done.
Rampal also asked the government to be transparent about the objectives and strategies of the Tak Nak campaign and tell the NGOs and community how they could help.
"We need to be much more active and consistent, showing a united message to the public and showing that we are doing everything possible to reduce the problem of smoking," he added.