KUALA LUMPUR: Nearly 44,500 students were found to have used smoking products, including conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes and vapes, last year, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad yesterday.
In a written reply in Dewan Negara, he said the 44,211 secondary school students and 230 primary school pupils were identified through the Oral Health Without Smoking Practices Programme.
“Last year, this programme screened 2,711,479 primary school pupils nationwide, of which 230 were found to be smokers, including 55 who used conventional cigarettes and 138 who used e-cigarettes or vapes.”
He said of those, 201 participated in smoking cessation interventions.
“A total of 1,870,427 secondary school students were screened, of which 44,211 were identified as smokers, including 17,172 who used conventional cigarettes and 19,782 who used e-cigarettes or vapes.”
Of those, 36,870 participated in smoking cessation interventions.
He was responding to Senator Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof, who asked about the effectiveness of smoking cessation programmes among the younger generation.
Dzulkefly said there were 857 clinics to help smokers quit through behavioural modification therapy, pharmacotherapy or a combination of both over a six-month period.
“Last year, 38,467 smokers registered for the cessation programme. Of these, 8,659 clients set a quit date and 4,916 successfully quit smoking, recording a quit rate of 56.8 per cent.”
He added that the ministry had optimised the use of technology through the JomQuit platform, which provided online consultations by certified healthcare professionals.
He said between October 2024 and last month, 1,968 clients received cessation consultation services via this platform.
“These initiatives reflect the effectiveness of the programmes designed to help the younger generation break free from smoking and vaping addiction, in line with the Health Ministry’s aspiration to create a smoke-free generation,” he added.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
