KUALA LUMPUR: The government’s commitment to table the Tobacco Products and Smoking Control Bill 2022 along with the generational Endgame (GEG) is the right step to protect the young generation from falling into the habit of smoking while reducing deaths from diseases related to cigarettes and vaping.
Public Health consultant Prof Datuk Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaiman says this comprehensive bill is able to address the current issue of tobacco control and the use of vape or electronic cigarettes which are illegal under national law.
“This bill is very important in providing provisions and regulations to control the use and sale of products including device safety, advertising and promotion of the product.
“I welcome the government’s approval to table the bill together with the implementation of GEG because we need a competent and comprehensive law to control products that are becoming a craze and are in high demand among teenagers, including children,“ he told Bernama here today.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when tabling the Budget 2023 announced the government’s commitment to table the Tobacco and Smoking Products Control Bill 2022 with GEG as part of efforts to strengthen tobacco control and protect the young generation from picking up the habit of smoking and vaping.
Commenting further, Lokman Hakim who is also the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research at International Medical University (IMU) said he was confident that with the comprehensive bill, the government’s aim to protect the young generation from the habit of smoking and vaping would be easier to achieve.
He added that GEG is a structured and systematic strategy that aims to protect a generation from the influence of tobacco and vaping within a reasonable period.
“It is impossible to ban cigarettes and vaping completely but with GEG, future generations will be free from this bad influence. This can only be achieved with a comprehensive bill,“ he said.
In July and August last year, former Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin tabled the Tobacco and Smoking Products Control Bill 2022 for the first and second readings, however, it was delayed due to the dissolution of Parliament on Oct 10.
Among other things, the bill prohibits the sale and use of any form of smoking material including electronic cigarettes or vaping to individuals born on Jan 1, 2007 and the following year, with the aim of preventing the future generation from smoking.
Lokman Hakim who is also the Ministry of Health’s former Deputy Director-General of Health (Public Health) welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement regarding the excise duty on liquid or gel products containing nicotine used for electronic cigarettes or vape, with half of the excise duty revenue to be returned to the Ministry of Health.
He added that this excise duty is in line with Article 6 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of the World Health Organisation (WHO) where price control through excise duty is able to control the availability of products containing tobacco and nicotine.
He also hopes the excise duty on vape and electronic cigarettes can be aligned with the excise duty on tobacco cigarettes in line with the FCTC’s strategy to control the availability of tobacco and nicotine products.
“I hope this is just the beginning and in future, it will also involve cigarette excise duty,“ he said. - Bernama
