Vision for a healthier Asean

Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan has unveiled a vision to eventually eliminate smoking in all 10 member countries.

"We are working on a smoke-free workplace everywhere we can," he said.

Dr Surin was speaking yesterday to about 2,600 delegates from 124 countries at the 15th World Conference On Tobacco Or Health at the Suntec City Convention Centre.

For a start, the Asean Secretariat in Jakarta will be smoke-free from next month, he announced.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said in his speech that the increasing number of young smokers here was a concern, despite Singapore being among the countries with the lowest prevalence of smoking in the world.

The 2010 National Health Survey showed that the prevalence of smoking here increased from an all-time low of 12.6 per cent of the population in 2004 to 14.3 per cent in 2010, he added.

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