• March 19, 2024

Malaysia’s FCTC steering committee hikes prices

Malaysia’s steering committee of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) has decided that cigarette prices should be raised twice in a year, according to a story in The Star.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the decision had been agreed to by the steering committee on Thursday.

Under the decision, the minimum retail price of cigarettes would be increased from RM7 to RM9 from August 1.

And it would be increased again, to RM10, after a year.

“This is in line with the FCTC pledge that we signed in 2003,” Subramaniam told a press conference.

The committee agreed also to designate all public parks and public areas in national parks as no-tobacco-smoking zones. The areas include campsites, canopy walks and observation towers.

And it agreed to declare air-conditioned eateries as non-tobacco-smoking areas.

Subramaniam said that for the time being the authorities would concentrate on educating the public about the no-tobacco-smoking bans, but that they hoped fully to enforce the bans from the start of next year.