Dr Sim gestures during the press conference. – Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING (July 20): Sarawak has to look into the draft of the proposed Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill before supporting it or otherwise, says Deputy Premier Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian.
He said he had requested for details on the proposed Bill from the Ministry of Health following a courtesy call from the ministry’s delegation last week.
“They are calling it the generational endgame (GEG) and on July 28, they hope to pass a new amendment in Parliament. The proposed legislation prohibits the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after Jan 1, 2005 even when they have reached 18 years old.
“I have asked them to give us details on the amendment because at least for the first time, the Ministry of Health realises that in Sarawak, some of the Public Health Ordinance are autonomous of the federal government. They realise that they need to come and work with us,” he told a press conference at his office here today.
Dr Sim, who is also Public Health, Housing and Local Government Minister, said when he has received the information, he would pass it to the State Attorney General for a study.
“The State AG needs to look and see which part of the amendment needs to be modified and amended.
“He will look into whether it’s a minor amendment to be passed through the state cabinet or if it’s a major amendment which needs to be passed through the State Legislative Assembly,” he said.
He said this was a right step for the Ministry of Health in realising that Sarawak has its own rights.
“We should do it together not just because I’m in Kuala Lumpur (federal government) therefore I am the ‘big brother’ and when I pass (the law) you need to follow.
“Good things like this must be done together and when we discuss it earlier, maybe we can coordinate the matter together. We do not want them to pass the law and later come and tell us to implement it,” he said.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said last week that the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill was approved by the Cabinet on July 13 and that the Bill would be debated in Parliament starting Monday.
He had previously said that once the law was passed, Malaysia would become the first country in the world to enact a tobacco generation endgame legislation and that the proposed generational smoking ban was aimed at reducing cancer cases in the country.
Meanwhile, on the issue regarding non-communicable diseases (NCD) cases in Sarawak, Dr Sim said while he did not have the statistics for Sarawak on hand, data released by the Ministry of Health three days ago shows that one in five Malaysians had diabetes; three in 10 had high blood pressure; and four in 10 had high cholesterol.
“Also, 51 per cent of Malaysians have never undergone health screenings, which are readily available.
“It doesn’t mean that when you are young, you don’t have high cholesterol or high blood pressure.
“This is so common and that’s why it is not surprising that we got so many heart disease cases among the younger generation,” he said.
He also said that the latest national morbidity and mortality survey has shown an increase in the number of NCD cases in the country.
“This is something which is very unfortunate because until we can first educate the people, people need to take this seriously and they need to be disciplined because health is their responsibility,” he said.