The premises of YMCA Ipoh were declared smoke-free by Dr Lee Boon Chye, the Deputy Minister of Health on Friday, March 8.
“Here we have almost eight acres of land: one football field, 10 badminton courts, five tennis courts, 28 suites, 50 rooms, one football field, one futsal field, meeting rooms and conference halls. From today onwards, it’s all smoke-free,” Dato’ Daniel Tay, president of YMCA Ipoh explained.
Present were Dr Leong Oon Keong, consultant chest physician cum president of Perak Chest Society, Vicky Law, organising chairperson and K. Nathan, emcee for the day.
According to Dr Lee, there are 731 health clinics and 46 governmental hospitals in the nation which provide facilities to aid smokers to quit smoking via the mQuit programme. Those who wish to stop smoking can visit the website: jomquit.moh.gov.my.
The services provided by mQuit include customised quit smoking plan, comprehensive follow-up sessions by dedicated healthcare professionals and nicotine replacement therapy to facilitate smoking cessation.
“From 2012 to 2017, a total of 12,400 smokers have successfully quit smoking at the facilities of the Ministry of Health. I would like to emphasize that these facilities by the ministry are provided for free,” Dr Lee added.
mQuit services is an integrated quit smoking service encompassing both public and private facilities in Malaysia. Find your nearest mQuit centre and pledge a better life for yourself and those around you.
A booth set up by the Perak Chest Society was offering chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) screening (for smokers only) and displaying informative posters.
Mei Kuan
