KUCHING: City Commission of Kuching North (DBKU) will designate more smoke-free zones in areas under its jurisdiction.
DBKU announced this in a statement yesterday following its participation in the recent Asia Pacific Cities Alliance for Tobacco Control (AP-CAT) 2017 in Singapore.
DBKU was represented by principal assistant director Morshidi Ahmad and community development and services division head Rudzaimeir Malek at the conference.
During the meeting, the idea of a Tobacco Free Generation (TFG) was presented by Balanga City, Philippines Mayor Francis Anthony S Garcia.
“Balanga City aims to become the first city in the world to create this Tobacco Free Generation. It pledged that its citizens born
after the year 2000 shall be tobacco free. Kuching North City Commission would also be gearing its resources towards this. Initial focus would be on awareness and creation of more smoke-free zones,” said the statement.
“To realise this, Kuching North City Commission invites the private sector, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), volunteers, and the community at large to work together to realise a Tobacco Free Generation for Kuching.”
The statement added Kuching North is the first city in Malaysia to be invited as a member of AP-CAT during its inaugural formation.
The Smoke-Free Zone initiative at eateries, places of worship, as well as parks and recreation areas in Kuching North mooted by Datuk Bandar Datuk Abang Abdul Wahap Abang Julai last year was recognised by AP-CAT and qualified DBKU to become a member.
More than 50 delegates from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Timor Leste, and Vietnam congregated in Singapore for the conference.
AP-CAT is a network of mayors and subnational leaders, established in November, united by their shared vision to create tobacco free environments.
Among its objectives are to make and implement a comprehensive tobacco control policy and to create local innovations and solutions to prevent non-communicable diseases. It was highlighted during the meeting that tobacco kills six million people each year with 600,000 deaths contributed by second-hand smoke (WHO Report on Global Tobacco Epidemic 2015).
Among Asean countries, the percentage of tobacco smoking prevalence ranges from 27.3 per cent to 74.8 per cent of the population.
Malaysia has a tobacco smoking prevalence of 44.4 per cent (WHO Report on Global Tobacco Epidemic 2017).