Introduction: Tobacco induced illness remains a major contribution to premature death and global burden of dis eases. The introduction of MPOWER policies by World Health Organization held the value to monitor the implementation of the anti-smoking measures in all signatory countries. This paper aimed to investigate the application of the six MPOWER indicators among Malaysia population. Methods: We utilized the data of Global Adult Tobacco Survey-Malaysia (GATS-M) which recruited 5112 nationally representative samples of Malaysians of 15 years old and above. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to illustrate the social demographic characteristic of the respon dents while cross tabulation was employed to describe all elements of the MPOWER indicators. Results: About one quarter (23.1%) of Malaysian adults were current tobacco users. The SHS exposure at home (38.4%) and restaurant (42.1%) were high. Approximately eight in ten (80.2%) of the smokers intended to quit, while for those attempted to quit in past one year, 9.0% utilized pharmacotherapy and 4.4% attended counseling. The awareness about tobacco related diseases was generally excellent. The overall tax make up of the cigarettes’ retail price ranging from 41.7% up to 80%. Conclusion: Tobacco consumption remains prevalent and plateau among Malaysian adults over the last two decades with substantial proportion of the population exposed to SHS. The inadequacy in the current anti-smoking policies needs urgent improvement in order to reduce the smoking norms among Malaysians population besides to achieve the ultimate goal of tobacco control end game by year 2045.

Intention to smoke is a valid and reliable factor for predicting future smoking habits among adolescents. This factor, however, has received inadequate attention in Malaysia. The present paper elaborates the prevalence and factors associated with intent to initiate or to cease smoking, among adolescent nonsmokers and smokers in Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia. A total of 2,300 secondary school students aged 13-16 years were selected through a two-stage stratified sampling method. A set of standardized questionnaires was used to assess the smoking behavior among adolescents and the inter-personal and intra-personal factors associated with smoking intention (intention to initiate smoking or to cease smoking). Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors related to smoking intention. The prevalence of intention to smoke in the future or to cease smoking among non-smoking adolescents and current smokers were 10.7% and 61.7% respectively. Having friends who smoke, social influence, and poor knowledge about the ill effects on health due to smoking showed significant relationships with intention to smoke in the future among non-smokers. Conversely, perceived lower prevalence of smoking among peers, weak contributory social influence, and greater awareness of the ill effects of smoking are factors associated with the intention to cease smoking sometime in the future. The study found that prevalence of intention to initiate smoking is low among non-smokers while the majority of current smokers intended to cease smoking in the future. Existing anti-smoking programmes that integrate the factors that have been identified in the current study should be put in motion to reduce the prevalence of intention to initiate smoking and increase the intention to cease smoking among adolescents

Intention to smoke is a valid and reliable factor for predicting future smoking habits among adolescents. This factor, however, has received inadequate attention in Malaysia. The present paper elaborates the prevalence and factors associated with intent to initiate or to cease smoking, among adolescent nonsmokers and smokers in Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia. A total of 2,300 secondary school students aged 13-16 years were selected through a two-stage stratified sampling method. A set of standardized questionnaires was used to assess the smoking behavior among adolescents and the inter-personal and intra-personal factors associated with smoking intention (intention to initiate smoking or to cease smoking). Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors related to smoking intention. The prevalence of intention to smoke in the future or to cease smoking among non- smoking adolescents and current smokers were 10.7% and 61.7% respectively. Having friends who smoke, social influence, and poor knowledge about the ill effects on health due to smoking showed significant relationships with intention to smoke in the future among non-smokers. Conversely, perceived lower prevalence of smoking among peers, weak contributory social influence, and greater awareness of the ill effects of smoking are factors associated with the intention to cease smoking sometime in the future. The study found that prevalence of intention to initiate smoking is low among non-smokers while the majority of current smokers intended to cease smoking in the future. Existing anti-smoking programmes that integrate the factors that have been identified in the current study should be put in motion to reduce the prevalence of intention to initiate smoking and increase the intention to cease smoking among adolescents.