• Sunway Medical Centre (SunMed) rolled out its Quit Smoking Clinic in 2015.

• SunMed Pharmacy offers free smoking cessation service exclusively to the Sunway workforce.

According to the 2015 National Health and Morbidity Survey,one in every four Malaysians aged 15 and above is a smoker.

More than half of the estimated 5 million Malaysians who smoke have tried to quit the habit. However, only one in 10 have admitted to visiting appropriate healthcare providers seeking advice and assistance.

In response to this, Sunway Medical Centre (SunMed) rolled out its Quit Smoking Clinic in 2015. This is in line with Sunway Group’s 5-year commitment to make all Sunway-owned buildings within Sunway City smoke-free by 2018.

In 2016, SunMed pharmacists underwent training with the Ministry of Health to be accredited as smoking cessation providers. Following that, SunMed’s Smoking Cessation Service achieved MQuit accreditation, recognising SunMed Pharmacy as part of an integrated quit smoking service provider encompassing both public and private facilities in Malaysia.

In May 2016, SunMed held a World No Tobacco Day campaign in Sunway Medical Centre to increase the awareness of smoking related implications to health and well-being. In response to the campaign, 16 Sunway employees and 17 members of the public signed up for the programme.

To encourage a healthy lifestyle among employees, SunMed Pharmacy offers free smoking cessation service exclusively to the Sunway workforce.

At the Quit Smoking Clinic, clients would undergo active, one-to-one consultation with accredited smoking cessation pharmacists. If required, smoking cessation products may be recommended. With behavioural counselling and continuous follow-up, some of our Sunway colleagues have managed to successfully quit smoking and remain smoke-free to this day.

According to one of our successful ‘quitters’ Mr. A, the hardest part about quitting smoking was resisting the urge to smoke, having smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for the last 16 years.

“It was hard to give up totally but from my sessions at the SunMed Quit Smoking Clinic, one of the recommendations was to distract myself from having a cigarette. I tried jogging most mornings to curb the cravings and this helped me a lot, as I also felt physically healthier,” says the 35-year-old.

Auxiliary policeman Mr H, 27, picked up smoking during his college days seven years ago, but decided to quit when he found out about the Quit Smoking Clinic at SunMed’s awareness booth during World No Tobacco Day.

Since quitting, Mr. H has an improved sense of smell and taste, as well as extra money to spend on upgrading his motorbike and gym sessions because he no longer buys cigarettes.

Quitting comes from within. The Quit Smoking Clinic staff can give tips and motivate you but ultimately it really still boils down
to your own determination

Keen to Quit Smoking?

Visit Sunway Medical Centre’s Pharmacy at Ground Floor, or contact the pharmacist for a consultation at 03-7491 1479. The Pharmacy is open from Monday to Friday from 9:30am to 6:30pm, and Saturday from 9:30am to 2pm.

Sunway’s Smoke-Free Journey Timeline

2013

• Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah pledges to make Sunway-owned buildings 100% smoke-free by 2018
• Sunway Medical Centre, Sunway University and Monash University Malaysia received the Blue Ribbon Award from Ministry of Health (MOH) for implementing smoke-free policies
• Sunway Pyramid awarded Malaysia’s first Health Promoting Mall by Malaysian Health Promotion Board (MySihat)

2014

• Brainstorming of Sunway Smoke-Free Workplace Policy with MOH and MySihat
• Sunway awarded the Blue Ribbon Outstanding Achievement at the Blue Ribbon Campaign 2014 for advocacy and support for smoke-free environments

2015

• SunMed rolls out Sunway smoking cessation programme
• Design and artwork on Sunway Policy Statement signages commences

2016

• Sunway launches Smoke-Free Workplace Policy
• Sunway Smoke-free signages installed in all Sunway-owned Buildings

2017

• Sunway collaborates with MySihat and MOH on ‘Stub It Out’ campaign in conjunction with World No Tobacco Day 2017

2018

• All Sunway-owned buildings to be smoke-free