A NEW law will be introduced to ban smoking and possession of tobacco products, including vape, for people born after 2005, as a generational end game for smoking in the country, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said.

He said the introduction of the law will be able to reduce the future generation’s exposure to cigarettes and tobacco products as their use is the leading cause of cancer and contributes to 22% of deaths.

“Meaning, if you are 17 years old and Parliament passed the law, you will never able to buy cigarettes in this country ever again,” he said when launching the ministry’s Cancer Day celebration, virtually today.

Khairy said cancer cases have increased by 11% to 115,238 for 2012-2016 from 103,507 for 2007-2011.

It is estimated that one in 10 men and one in nine women are at risk of getting cancer, he said.

The three most common types of cancer among men in Malaysia are colorectal (16.9%), lung (14.8%) and prostate (8.1%) while among women, breast (33.9%), colorectal (10.7%) and cervices (6.2%).

Khairy said cancer is also the leading cause of death recorded at private hospitals (34.95%) and the fourth cause of death in government hospitals (11.56%).

This year alone, he said, the government has allocated RM137 million for radiotherapy and oncology services and the amount does not include other costs such as imaging and laboratories for diagnosis confirmation, surgery and anaesthesiology, rehabilitation and palliative care services.

At the event, Khairy also launched the National Strategic Plan for Cancer Control Programme (NSPCCP) 2021-2025 book and the National Strategic Plan for Colorectal Cancer (NSPCRC) 2021-2025 book.

The NSPCCP book contains the objectives and strategies for all areas of focus, encompassing prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, palliative care, traditional and complementary treatment, surveillance and monitoring (cancer registry), research and human resources.

The NSPCRC book, on the other hand, is the subset of the NSPCCP and is a colorectal cancer action plan for the ministry to control colorectal, the second common type of cancer in the country. – Bernama, February 17, 2022.