PUTRAJAYA, May 16 — The Health Ministry (MOH) will fully enforce the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health 2024 (Act 852) next month as a measure to deal with the increase in the use of electronic cigarettes involving young people.
Its minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said that based on the findings of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2023, e-cigarettes or vape usage involving young people is worrying, and needs swift and thorough action.
"The enforcement of Act 852 along with its rules and orders, InsyaAllah, will be implemented beginning June 2024 in response to the increase in vaping as the Smoking Products Control Act is also a Vaping Control Act.
"We hope with the orders and regulations we will be able to deal with the increase in electronic cigarettes or vaping among these young people," he said.
Dr Dzulkefly was speaking during a press conference after launching the results of the 2023 National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS): Non-Communicable Diseases and Healthcare Demand and the GATS 2023 launch today.
GATS 2023 was published by the MOH's Public Health Institute, in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Its main findings found that the prevalence of current electronic cigarette users has increased drastically from 0.8 per cent in 2011 to 5.8 per cent in 2023.
The prevalence of e-cigarette users among smokers aged 15 to 24 increased to 8.6 per cent in 2023 compared to 1.1 per cent in 2011, according to GATS 2023.
Additionally, GATS 2023 also revealed the prevalence of dual users of tobacco and e-cigarettes increased from 0.8 per cent in 2011 to 3.9 per cent in 2023.
"Many electronic cigarette users are from the younger age group. Among the three main reasons for using electronic cigarettes is that they are available in preferred flavours.
“Other reasons include the perception that they (e-cigarettes) are less harmful than smoking (tobacco) cigarettes, in addition to them being easy to enjoy," said GATS 2023.
The survey found that 4.8 million or 19.0 per cent of adults in Malaysia are tobacco smokers, whereas 3.7 million adults smoke every day.
"The average monthly expenditure on cigarettes is RM178 for the national category, RM195 for urban areas and RM136.3 for rural areas," it said.
9.0 per cent of adult tobacco smokers plan to quit smoking within a month, while 13.0 per cent plan to quit within 12 months.
"A total of 37.0 per cent plan to quit smoking one day. However, 41.0 per cent of adult tobacco smokers do not plan to quit smoking," said GATS 2023.
The data collection was conducted from June to July 2023 across the states and Federal Territories, involving 5,780 randomly selected households.
— Bernama
