KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — The Health Ministry inspected 146,607 restaurant premises from January up till November 3 this year to ensure that the smoking ban is observed.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad told the Dewan Rakyat during the Minister’s Question Time that 31,422 warning notices have also been issued.

"Out of that figure, 27,759 premises were given a warning because they failed to put up no-smoking signs and a further 3,889 notices were issued to individuals who were smoking at restaurant premises,” said Dzulkefly in his reply to Ledang PH MP Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh.

He said his ministry received 23,805 complaints in the period, adding that full enforcement of the smoking ban will begin on January 1.

He also said that the minimum three-metre buffer from eateries was not an arbitrary decision but set after a study on the smallest safe distance to protect the public from the harms of passive smoking.

Replying to Syed Ibrahim’s supplementary question, Dzulkefly said that in 2018, the Health Ministry’s mQuit programme had a 32 per cent success rate and that 20,032 smokers had registered with the programme.