KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 — The Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control (MCTC) has cautioned the Healthy Ministry against subversive efforts to lean into pro-smoking policies even after the latter had denied controversial claims of fraternising with tobacco company representatives.

The MCTC said that one of the individuals met was a known office holder in a tobacco product organisation and that the reason given that they had met to discuss plans for the organisation of a weight-loss programme was unconvincing.

"It may be naïve to presume that despite this individual professing to be present for a meeting on supposed weight reduction programme proposals; news of such a meeting can be used as false support for the industry.

"In fact, the strategy of proposing weight reduction programmes in conjunction with tobacco products is a strategy used for decades and has been comprehensively documented in the WHO Tobacco Industry Interference with Tobacco Control report,” they said.

MCTC said that despite the Health Ministry’s assurance, they remained vigilant with regard to all aspects of tobacco control, including efforts by various parties to mislead officials and subvert them into supporting pro-tobacco activities.

"Although the ministry clarified that the representatives in this meeting had introduced themselves as representatives of a bicycle and printing company respectively; one of these individuals is a publicly known office-holder of a tobacco product organisation, having appeared in multiple media events and forums in national media,” they said.

MCTC was however encouraged by the ministry’s response that there are no plans to breach Article 5.3 of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and that it will not compromise with any officer who violates the guidelines of Article 5.3 and related policies.

"As the MOH’s strongest supporter in the arena of tobacco control for decades, the MCTC unequivocally stands together with the government and the Health Ministry in safeguarding the health of all Malaysians.

"MCTC fully expects that there will be full-blown interference efforts from many different parties through many different strategies. We laud the Ministry of Health’s strong statement and actions and put forward a further suggestion that the government immediately draft and put into place a code of conduct for all public officials to ensure their compliance to Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC,” they said.

Such a code of conduct has been in place in many countries and is a clear indication of dos and don’ts to all public officials in dealing with tobacco or tobacco-product industry related officials.

They said that the Health Ministry should lead these efforts to ensure that all public officials across the government are made aware of such a code of conduct when it is put into place; and to ensure that it is being adhered to.

"On its part, the MCTC will continue to play its role to educate the public (including public officials) on various aspects of tobacco control; support the government in efforts to further strengthen tobacco control efforts and also act as a social conscience for all Malaysians (including public officials) to ensure together, we protect Malaysians from all health risks and keep our people safe.”

Last month, MCTC highlighted claims that ministry officials met with representatives from the tobacco industry, which they said was contrary to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control treaty which among others states that public health policies must be protected from the vested interests of the tobacco industry.

MCTC said it was concerned that the alleged meeting would hinder the government’s efforts to reduce the use of tobacco.

Director-general for public health Datuk Dr Norhayati Rusli, its probe into the claims found that the officials met with two people who introduced themselves as owners of a bicycle business and printing business.

She said the purpose of the meeting was to discuss plans for the organisation of a weight-loss programme.