Teen puffers on the rise

A visitor having her teeth checked by dentists during the Penang Dental Carnival 2016 in Bukit Mertajam.

AN average of 50 to 60 teenagers are picking up the smoking habit daily nationwide and this is worrying, said the Health Ministry.

Its senior director (Dental Health) Dr Noor Aliyah Ismail said: “Based on the Tobacco Survey Malaysia 2015, about five million people, aged 15 and above, or 22.8% of the nation’s smokers, are active smokers.