President's Message
"The main objective of tobacco control is to protect every Malaysian from being exposed to the harms of this product in whatever form"
"The main objective of tobacco control is to protect every Malaysian from being exposed to the harms of this product in whatever form"
Tobacco remains one of the few legal products that harms individuals exposed to it as well as being the cause of death for half of those who use it regularly. In fact, the World Health Organisation estimates that approximately 1 billion people globally would have died from tobacco-related diseases from the end of the century.
Amidst rising awareness and understanding of multiple stakeholders, more and more efforts are being carried out to address issues pertaining to the control of tobacco. One of the global community’s greatest successes is the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world’s first global public health treaty. The FCTC is one of the most widely endorsed treaties in the history of the United Nations and was developed in response to increasing international concern regarding global public health in general and the spread and impact of tobacco-related diseases.
On both an international and at the national level, NGOs have been instrumental in being an important implementation partner for the FCTC process; working alongside as partners to WHO and national governments. This partnership has taken many forms, from developing implementation guidelines, carrying out advocacy initiatives, technical assistance, capacity building and training.
In Malaysia, we are proud of the coming together of the entirety of civil society organisations under one united banner: the Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control (MCTC). The MCTC is an umbrella organisation which consists of more than 40 organisations united in our efforts on tobacco control. The members of MCTC range from community organisations to clinical professional organisations from all over the country. The MCTC has been and continues to be the largest moving force in partnering all stakeholders including working hand-in-hand with the government of Malaysia. MCTC has worked tirelessly at all levels from the ground till the very top within the halls of power – organising programmes, advocating policies, driving individual and community level change to all Malaysians at all levels.
Amidst these changing times, tobacco control remains one of the important areas to be worked on; requiring the participation all stakeholders at all levels. MCTC is committed to the end-game of tobacco control; working hand-in hand with all Malaysians to ensure this.