IF WE stop smoking today, by next week, our blood pressure will improve. Within several months of quitting, we will experience significant improvements in lung function.
This time next year, our risk of heart disease and heart attack is halved. Refusing to start smoking, or stopping smoking is one important step we can take to protect the health and wellbeing of ourselves, our families and children and those around us.
With this in mind, Brunei Darussalam joins the global community, under the leadership of the World Health Organization (WHO) to mark May 31 as World No Tobacco Day.
Today, even if we are merely considering stopping smoking, the Ministry of Health wants to encourage you to abstain from smoking for at least 24 hours. Hopefully, this will be the start of a positive journey to lifelong abstinence from the harmful effects of tobacco.
This year, the theme for World No Tobacco Day 2016 is ‘Get Ready for Plain Packaging’.
World Health Organization calls on countries to get ready for plain packaging of tobacco products as part of demand reduction measures.
Thankfully, in Brunei Darussalam, under the leadership of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, the Tobacco Order 2005 already includes restrictions on advertisements related to smoking, the promotion, distribution, packaging and labelling of tobacco products as well as smoking in certain areas.
Despite this, people continue to import and distribute tobacco products illegally on the black market.
These pose a serious harm to our society and the whole community needs to take action to ensure that as a society, the health and wellbeing of ourselves and our children remains a top priority.
We know that smoking kills. Tobacco ruins our hearts and lungs. Cigarettes destroy our bodies.
In Brunei Darussalam, the top causes of mortality are cancer and heart disease and smoking is the common risk factor of both. Exposure to second-hand smoke is especially harmful for children and can cause serious respiratory illnesses.
National surveys show that 97 per cent of adults know that smoking causes serious illnesses. Despite this 18 per cent of the adult population continue to smoke.
Today, we call for a movement to translate this knowledge to a genuine change in behaviour. Quitting smoking is difficult for many people, mainly because of nicotine addiction and not knowing how to quit.
The Ministry of Health wants to support smokers quit. If you are currently a smoker, quitting is the single best decision you can make for yourself. Our smoking cessation services provides education, advice, counselling and with these, the chance of success that a smoker who tries to quit will increase. If you or someone you know is thinking about quitting smoking, speak to your doctor today or call Darussalam hotline 123 for more information.
Each individual must take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing.
We need your support and the active involvement of everyone in the community – individuals, families and other stakeholders to work together to increase awareness on positive health effects of stopping smoking and importantly to support those individuals who are trying to stop smoking.
A healthy population is critical to the development of Brunei Darussalam and it is all our business to ensure this.
The issues surrounding stopping smoking are particularly well-aligned with the Ministry of Health strategic priorities which are to drive the ‘Health is everyone’s business agenda’, enhance the quality of service delivery through alignment and consolidation, and prevent and control non-communicable diseases. Each and every person has their own roles and responsibilities in the war against tobacco, and working together, we can and we will win this in Brunei Darussalam.
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