THE Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy has applauded the Health Ministry’s assessment of the emergence of e-cigarettes and vape as a public health threat.
It said Malaysia must be assertive and unapologetically aggressive in the face of the threat posed by nicotine vape and e-cigarettes that are now rapidly replacing cigarette smoking among young people and teenagers.
“Based on data and studies conducted over the past 10 years, it is clear that more children and young people in Malaysia are increasingly at risk of acquiring life-long addiction to nicotine through vaping and e-cigarettes,” said Galen Centre CEO Azrul Mohd Khalib.
“Although the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) Adolescent Health Survey 2022 has previously revealed that there has been a decline in the reported rate of smoking among teenagers and adolescents, the same report has indicated a significant increase in the prevalence of e-cigarette and vape use among this group of people.”
According to Azrul, the overall prevalence of children aged 13 to 17 years currently vaping and using e-cigarettes rose from 9.8% in 2017 to 14.9% in 2022.
Meanwhile, another local study estimated that at least 600,000 children between the ages of 11 and 18 have taken up vaping, with the rates of adolescents vaping in this age range now exceeding those reported in several countries, including the United States.
“With the sales and marketing of vape and e-cigarettes becoming totally unregulated and unrestricted due to the government’s nicotine vape exemption last year, these numbers are likely to be worse today,” Azrul pointed out.
The regulations which will operationalise the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852) gazetted on Feb 2, will likely be announced next month.
Azrul said the Act must contain five measures, namely the restrictions on nicotine content, the imposition of similar tobacco restrictions on ape and e-cigarettes industry, the imposition of the ban of open retail display of cigarettes, vape and e-cigarettes, the increase of excise duties on cigarettes and other tobacco products and the enforcement of anti-smoking regulations.
However, he also noted that these measures are far from being magic bullets.
“They do not work in isolation. They are not cure-alls. They must work together with existing anti-smoking initiatives to work,” he remarked.
“The Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act now makes it possible to introduce regulations such as plain packaging, point-of-sale display bans, restrictions on e-cigarette flavours and other measures to help prevent and control nicotine addiction and reduce underage smoking and vaping. It will finally regulate nicotine vape and e-cigarettes.” – May 31, 2024
