Show rakyat come first, remove tobacco from Afta

THE National Cancer Society Malaysia (NCSM) applauds Minister of Health, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai for taking a stand in getting Asean countries to form a consensus to remove tobacco from the Asean Free Trade Agreement (Afta) list which takes effect in 2015. This initiative clearly reflects the government’s concern towards the well-being of its rakyat and the importance of protecting the people with regards to a tobacco-free environment.

 Tobacco is one of the main causes of non-communicable diseases (NCD), mainly cancer, cardiovascular diseases and chronic respiratory diseases that represent a leading threat to human health and development. These diseases are the world’s biggest killers, causing an estimated 35 million deaths each year – 60 per cent of all deaths globally — with 80 per cent in low and middle-income countries.

The fact that WHO chose "Tobacco Industry Interference" as the theme for World No Tobacco Day 2012 clearly shows there is a global call to curb the tobacco industry's aggressive and blatant attempts to undermine the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) because of the serious danger they pose to public health. Bearing this in mind, NCSM hopes the same consideration will be taken into secretive Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement that is currently being discussed by the Malaysian government and the US. It is our fervent wish that the tobacco control situation is taken into consideration when the TPPA is signed.

 We feel that the tobacco agenda should be stricken off from the Agreement text. We have come to understand from the leaked TPPA chapters that foreign investors, including transnational tobacco industry, have the right to sue governments of TPPA member countries when these governments regulate their businesses to protect public health. Our concern is that should Malaysia sign the TPPA and if we choose not to regulate to avoid expensive tobacco arbitration, more Malaysians will succumb to tobacco-related diseases. Currently, 46 per cent of our male population are smokers and the government is known to spend about RM20 billion a year towards treatment for tobacco-related diseases.