Malaysian Pharmacists Society Featured in National Media for Smoking Cessation Work
The MPS was featured as Malaysia was congratulated by the WHO on World No Tobacco Day
The Malaysian Pharmacists Society (MPS) have received national media recognition for their work in the area of smoking cessation. The press attention follows the government of Malaysia and the Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control (MCTC) receiving the prestigious World No Tobacco Award from the World Health Organisation (WHO), with publications including The Star and Bernama highlighting MPS’ efforts as a member of MCTC.
MPS has been central to the MCTC, including serving as a formal partner of mQuit – Malaysia’s official smoking cessation initiative, developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH). Within mQuit, MPS has played a leading role in training and mobilising pharmacists to provide professional smoking cessation services, providing thousands of Malaysians with accessible healthcare professionals who are trained to help them quit smoking and vaping.
Through their pivotal roles in the MCTC and mQuit Service Committee, MPS represents the interests of thousands of Malaysian pharmacy professionals in this important sector of patient care, contributing to multi-stakeholder coordination and educational frameworks for healthcare professionals.
World No Tobacco Day 2025
Each year on 31st May, the WHO observes World No Tobacco Day, highlighting the dangers of tobacco use and the efforts made by the WHO and other organisations to curb this. The negative health effects caused by tobacco use lead to over 8 million deaths every year, with up to two-thirds of lifelong smokers dying as a result of tobacco. The annual death rate includes some 1.3 million people who do not smoke themselves, succumbing to second-hand smoke.
This rate of preventable deaths has led the UK Health Security Agency to call cigarettes “the single most dangerous consumer product known to man”. Concerningly, an estimated 37 million children aged 13-15 years worldwide use tobacco, likely exacerbated by the rise in popularity of e-cigarettes among young people; in many countries, the rate of e-cigarette use among young people exceeds that of adults.
The theme of World No Tobacco Day 2025 is ‘Bright products, dark intentions: Unmasking the appeal’, highlighting the manipulative marketing tactics of the tobacco industry being used to reel in a new generation of tobacco users. Attractive product designs, flavours and marketing are glamourising tobacco use, trapping young people into a cycle of dependency that can last a lifetime. This World No Tobacco Day, WHO calls on the tobacco industry: no more tricks, no more traps.
MPS and smoking cessation
Since its official launch in 2015, mQuit has established a national network of standardised quit-smoking services across both public and private sectors in Malaysia. As a formal mQuit partner, MPS has leveraged its network of trained pharmacists to upscale smoking cessation, normalising cessation as a routine pharmacy service, especially in underserved communities.
To date, over 1,500 pharmacists have been trained through the Certified Smoking Cessation Service Provider programme, developing competencies in smoking cessation pharmacotherapy, behavioural and motivational counselling techniques tailored to local population needs, and referral pathways and follow-up support to ensure continuity of care. Additionally, more than 300 private community pharmacies have been registered and verified as mQuit providers.
Outside of mQuit, MPS has been a consistent voice in national tobacco policy reform, championing legislative change and holding firm in the face of commercial interference. In the community, MPS has supported media awareness campaigns to raise public understanding about tobacco harms, school-based programs targeting youth awareness and prevention, and cross-sector partnerships with non-governmental organisations, healthcare providers, and local councils to extend the reach of tobacco control education.
National impact
Malaysia’s smoking prevalence has shown a downward trend, decreasing from 22.8% in 2015 to 21.3% in 2019, which aligns with the WHO Global Noncommunicable Disease Target. Several initiatives implemented by the MoH – including the integration of non-pharmacological and pharmacological cessation support through health clinics and mQuit-certified providers – are contributing to these gains.
Malaysia’s progress in this field resulted in it being awarded the World No Tobacco Award by the WHO. As a core member of MCTC, MPS shares in this honour; the award recognises Malaysia’s longstanding, multidisciplinary approach in which pharmacists have been empowered as essential public health allies in tobacco cessation.
MPS and CPA
CPA is, firstly and foremost, the international body of the Commonwealth’s national pharmacy associations (NPAs). As Malaysia’s NPA, MPS is a valued member of CPA, having a representative on the CPA Council to help influence our overall strategic direction.
Almost 70% of Commonwealth NPAs are CPA members, providing us with access to over one million pharmacists globally as we seek to achieve our goals of:
- Developing the pharmacy workforce and building capacity through education and training
- Supporting pharmacists to strengthen healthcare systems through the safe and effective use of medicines, prevention of disease, and promotion of healthier lifestyles
- Advocating for improved access to and quality of medicines and vaccines, embedding pharmacists at all levels of medicines management
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