A SURVEY commissioned by Malaysian Vape Industry Advocacy (MVIA) has revealed that 88% of Malaysian vapers who used to smoke cigarettes have successfully quit smoking with the aid of vape.
The same poll also found that 79% who currently vape and smoke traditional cigarettes at the same time have reduced smoking since taking up vape while 66% of current smokers will start vaping or continue to vape to quit smoking completely.
These revelations came from the Malaysian Insights & Perspectives on Vape survey, a recent opinion poll commissioned by MVIA and conducted by Green Zebras, a leading market research company in Malaysia.
The survey is made up of a sample size of 1,025 Malaysian adults, hence is reflective of the perception of all Malaysian adults nationwide.
MVIA is a non-profit advocacy group that supports Malaysian vape entrepreneurs and businesses. It aims to represent the Malaysian vape industry by providing a voice for the industry with government bodies, regulators, enforcement agencies and other interested parties.
“The results are in line with many international studies by established public health expects that have clearly shown vaping as an effective tool to help smokers quit cigarette smoking and is also a much less harmful alternative,” MVIA president Rizani Zakaria pointed out.
“The recent findings from Public Health England (PHE), a UK health agency, provide clear evidence that points to the effectiveness of vape products in successful smoking cessation.”
These findings, according to Rizani, have driven many governments around the world to launch nationwide awareness campaigns to encourage smokers to quit by switching to vape.
In the UK, the Government has an annual Stoptober campaign in the month of October to urge smokers to switch to vape. More recently, the New Zealand Government also launched a QuitStrong campaign to do likewise.
The MVIA survey also indicates that 56% of Malaysians overall are saying that the number of people vaping has increased in the past few years and the top reason contributing to this is because vaping is perceived to be less harmful than cigarette smoking (59%).
“This is the key factor why many quit smoking and switch to vaping, thus PHE has cited that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking cigarettes,” noted Rizani.
Moreover, PHE’s findings have also been supported by numerous international public health agencies and experts.
“There is a real need for the Malaysian Government to recognise the benefits of vaping, especially the potential that it has to help smokers to quit cigarette smoking by switching to a less harmful product,” opined Rizani.
“As it stands, vape products are still unregulated and we believe it is time for the Government to look into introducing regulations on the products and adopt policies that would encourage smokers to switch to vaping that is less harmful.” – April 8, 2021
Photo credit: Getty Images
