Government spends RM3bil annually to treat smoking-related diseases

Perak Entrepreneur & Skills Development Centre (PESDC) trainees showing their support for no-smoking campaign during the launching the National Level of A Day Without Tobacco 2014 celebration in Ipoh. SAIFUL BAHRI/The Star

THE Government coughs up about RM3bil annually to treat smoking-related diseases.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said a recent health economic study in Malaysia showed that there were three main diseases related to smoking – coronary heart disease, lung cancer, chronic lung disease – and that all these were quite costly to be treated.