Law to ban smoking will be introduced - Khairy

He said the introduction of the law would be able to reduce the future generation's exposure to cigarettes and tobacco products as tobacco use is the leading cause of cancer and contributes to 22 per cent of deaths due to cancer.

"Meaning, if you are 17 years old and Parliament passed the Act, you will never able to buy cigarettes in this country ever again," he said when launching the ministry's Cancer Day celebration, virtually today.

Meanwhile, Khairy said cancer cases had increased by 11 per cent to 115,238 for the period of 2012 to 2016 from 103,507 cases recorded from 2007 to 2011.

It is estimated that one in 10 men and one in nine women are at risk of getting cancer, he said.

The three most common types of cancer among men in Malaysia are colorectal cancer (16.9%), lung cancer (14.8%) and prostate cancer (8.1%), while among women, breast cancer (33.9%), colorectal cancer (10.7%) and cervical cancer (6.2%).

Khairy said cancer is also the leading cause of death recorded at private hospitals (34.95%) and the fourth cause of death in government hospitals (11.56%).

This year alone, he said the government had allocated RM137 million for Radiotherapy and Oncology Services and the amount did not include other costs such as imaging and laboratories for diagnosis confirmation, surgery and anesthesiology, rehabilitation and palliative care services.

At the event, Khairy also launched the National Strategic Plan for Cancer Control Programme (NSPCCP) 2021-2025 book, and the National Strategic Plan for Colorectal Cancer (NSPCRC) 2021-2025 book.

The NSPCCP 2021-2025 contains the objectives and strategies for all areas of focus, encompassing prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, palliative care, traditional and complementary treatment, surveillance and monitoring (Cancer Registry), research and human resources.

The NSPCRC 2021-2025, on the other hand, is the subset of the NSPCCP 2021-2025 and is a colorectal cancer action plan for the ministry to control colorectal, the second common type of cancer in Malaysia.