PENANG, 11 March 2013 - Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) plans to produce about 500 ambassadors comprising undergraduates for health promotion programmes in the community. Training programmes will be initiated in the near future.

According to the Chairman of Tobacco-Free USM Project Steering Committee, Professor Rahmat Awang, the selected students will undergo a comprehensive training after which they can be commissioned to carry out health promotion activities, not only on tobacco-free issues but also on others, with the help of the Health Promotion Board Malaysia (MySIHAT), Ministry of Health Malaysia.

At this juncture, USM is the first tobacco-free university comprehensively covering all aspects, including the use of tobacco products and being free from cigarettes and tobacco manufacturers sponsorship in all its activities.

“This means that between 2013 and 2015, USM is expected to train a total of 1,500 volunteers with the assistance of MySIHAT to run health-related community projects,” said Rahmat.

He added that the university makes every effort to obtain the support of young people in the promotion of a healthier lifestyle, help in providing more effective health services and create a healthier environment including capacity building development, for example, among the campus’ Centres of Responsibility (PTJ) and to explain the role of the deans and heads of departments in the context of community empowerment besides strengthening health systems through collaboration and partnerships between sectors.

He said at an interview after the officiation of the Strategic Planning Workshop for USM Tobacco-Free Project held for two days from today. A total of about 70 people participated in this workshop that incorporated all aspects related to the effort to make USM completely Tobacco-Free.

 

This project is co-organised by the Industry and Community Network Division, National Poison Centre, the Student Affairs and Development Division with the support of Malaysia Health Ministry MySIHAT to fully implement a comprehensive tobacco-free policy at USM Campus from 1 January 2013.

In the meantime, when opening the workshop, CEO of MySIHAT Malaysia Health Ministry, Y. Bhg. Datuk Dr Yahya Baba said from the available statistics, it shows that 90% of those involved in drugs were smokers.

“The challenge now is much greater because it is closely linked to drug abuse, let alone to create more smoke-free areas in Malaysia despite the fact the majority of people do not smoke cigarettes,” said Yahya.

He added that it is important to ensure that non-smokers ask for the right not to breathe secondhand smoke from hard-core smokers even if the actual number of smokers is comparatively smaller.

“That’s why we strive to create USM MySihat Malaysia Health Ministry ambassadors comprising members of the public who are keen to deliver the message to their communities through voluntary movement,” he said.

Speaking at the same event, Professor Rahmat Awang explained that cigarettes are a product that is legally sold but kills half of its users.

 

“We are aware of the official world data showing that there is a death in every 5 seconds while in Malaysia there is one death every hour,” he said.

He added that smoking-related issues are a big issue worldwide because it encompasses all races and countries, even it is generally agreed that tobacco contains 7,000 chemicals in each cigarette and 5,000 of the chemicals are able to cause cancer.

World Health Organization (WHO) reported that one in every two people will die if they continue to smoke for 40 years and that one in every four people will die if they continue smoking for 20 years.

“What worries us is the growing statistics every year, more so when we found that most of them started at an early age, some as early as 9 years old,” added Rahmat. - Text: Mohamad Abdullah / Photo: Mohd Fairus Md. Isa/Translation: Yong Check Yoon