ONE in five people who died of Covid-19 in Malaysia was a smoker, said Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today.

This was based on a study done on 86 people who had died of the virus, of which 17 - or 19.8% - of them were smokers.

“Our observation and early analysis on research done on 86 people who had died of Covid-19 in Malaysia found that 19.8% of them, or 17 people, were smokers.

“Our analysis also showed that Covid-19 deaths among smokers without any chronic illnesses were higher than those who weren’t smokers - 17.6% to 12.1%,” he said during his daily briefing on Covid-19 situation in Putrajaya.

A total of 115 people have died of the disease in Malaysia so far.

He said this in conjunction with World No-Tobacco Day that is observed on May 31.

He said the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a statement on May 27 saying that smokers are at higher risk of developing serious complications when infected with Covid-19.

“Smoking has been proven to cause many diseases as well as weaken the immunity of people, raising the risk of bacterial infections and viruses during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added.

“Covid-19 is an infectious disease that attacks most of the lungs. Smoking impairs lung function, thus will make our body difficult to resist the coronavirus and other diseases,” he said.

Citing the National Health & Morbidity Survey (NHMS) which was released on May 29, Dr Noor Hisham said an estimated 21.3% of Malaysians were smokers.

Noor Hisham said the Health Ministry urges smokers to quit to protect their health and their loved ones. 

He said the ministry, in collaboration with the Malaysian Association of Pharmacies, International Islamic University Malaysia (UIAM) and National University of Malaysia (UKM), has set up an online smoking cessation counseling services.

He said during the movement control order (MCO) and conditional MCO, it was reported that 400 smokers had signed up for online assistance to quit smoking and over 5,000 people visited the website www.jomquit.moh.gov.my.

“These figures indicate that there is an increase in awareness among the public, especially among smokers about the dangers of smoking. 

“MoH hopes for more proactive smokers and takes the responsibility to act quickly to protect their own health and to protect their loved ones, especially the elderly and children,” he said. – May 31, 2020.