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SINGAPORE RETAILERS TO VOLUNTARILY SUSPEND SALES OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS FOR ONE DAY
Voluntary Move Underscores Retailers Support for World No Tobacco Day on 31 May
Singapore, 30 May: World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) this year will be marked by the absence of tobacco products for sale by retailers across the island. In addition to the large supermarket chains like Cold Storage, Giant, Sheng Siong and NTUC Fairprice, 145 retailers will also suspend tobacco sales on 31 May.
- WNTD is a health awareness day that highlights the widespread prevalence of tobacco use and its negative health effects. Retailers who voluntarily support WNTD will display posters to cover up their tobacco display as a means of informing their customers that they will not be able to buy tobacco products on that day. Instead, customers will receive Blue Ribbon1 Magnetic Bookmarks as complimentary giveaways in place of their usual cigarettes.
- Said Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Transport Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim “Although Singapore has one of the lowest prevalence of smoking in the world, we have witnessed an upward trend in recent years. This underscores the need for renewed tobacco control efforts to tackle the single most preventable cause of death in the world today. I applaud the retailers who have pledged to voluntarily suspend the sales of tobacco products on World No Tobacco Day. This may be small but significant step as it is indicative of the community spirit and willingness to work together to promote a tobacco-free lifestyle as the social norm.”
- The prevalence of smoking in Singapore has risen from 12.6 per cent in 2004 to 14.3 per cent in 2012. HPB’s goal is to bring down smoking rates to less than 10% by 2020. This will be achieved through a multi-pronged approach covering the 3P (Public, Private and People) network; specifically through a combination of policies such as the Blue Ribbon initiative to create a smoke-free environment, private partnership with retailers and the support of the people and HPB’s Health Ambassadors who play an important role in the community to create a healthy living social movement. These initiatives contribute to the whole-of-society effort to create an environment that is conducive and a culture that is pervasive for health, including smoke-free living.
Issued by Health Promotion Board