To stem the alarming trend in tobacco use, which currently causes nearly five million deaths each year, healthcare professionals at a World Health Organisation (WHO) meeting in Geneva on Jan 30 agreed to promote a new code of conduct that includes a pledge to quit smoking.

According to WHO, the smoking prevalence among health professionals in many countries is the same, or even higher, than the average of the population. For instance, in Albania in 2000, 44 per cent of medical students smoked, compared with 39 per cent of the population. In Saudi Arabia, 20 per cent of the doctors smoke whereas the average for the general population is 13 percent.

WHO has pointed out that even brief counselling by health professionals on the dangers of smoking and importance of quitting is one of the most cost-effective methods of reducing the harmful practice. Dr Vera Luiza da Costa e Silva, director of WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative says that the involvement of health professionals is of key importance in successfully curbing the tobacco epidemic.

The tobacco situation in the country is extremely serious. About half of all Malaysian adult males smoke. Smoking causes at least about 10,000 deaths a year. The rise in child and teenage smokers is on an alarming upward trend. If 50 percent of adult males are smokers, then we have already been deprived of a significant portion of good role models for the youngsters in the fight against tobacco addiction.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has just launched a new nationwide anti-smoking campaign. It would be good if doctors and other health professionals who are smokers can set a good example by refraining, for good, from lighting up. They would then be in a marvellous position to encourage those with whom they come in contact to quit smoking for the sake of health.