PETALING JAYA: With the controversy over whether or not lobbyists were behind the decision to nix the generational end game (GEG) element of the anti-smoking Bill, many are now demanding that the provisions be reinstated.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad had explained in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday that the GEG provision was dropped due to a constitutionality issue, and not industry pressure.
He said his deputy Lukanisman Awang had been mistaken when he told the House that lobbyists were indeed behind the decision to drop the provision that would have put an end to smoking among those born in 2007 and after.
Former Health Ministry official and public health expert Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said there was nothing legally wrong with engagements with the industry.
“The tobacco industry players had a right to be involved in discussions which would affect them,” he said.
However, he said if it was true that the government had abandoned the GEG due to the influence of lobbyists, then it would be wrong.
Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) senior education officer NV Subbarow also said the GEG should be brought back for the sake of the future generations.
“It’s time to save the children’s lives,” he said. “It’s also hard to believe the statement by the Health Minister. Why would the deputy minister give wrong information?”
“And why take so many days to deny the comments? The deputy minister knows the implication of giving the wrong information in the Parliament,” he said..
Separately, CAP president Mohideen Abdul Kader urged the government to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the previous revelation that tobacco and vape industry players had lobbied MPs to exclude the GEG provision.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz said Malaysia has an obligation to uphold its commitment to the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which Malaysia ratified in 2005.
“We view MPs meeting with tobacco and vape industry lobbyists as a violation of Article 5.3 of the treaty. The WHO FCTC is one of the most widely embraced treaties in the history of the United Nations,” she said.
Article 5.3 says governments must take measures to protect health policies from the commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.
On Nov 28 last year, the Health Ministry dropped the GEG element from the revised Control of Smoking Products for Public Health 2023 Bill.
The Attorney General’s Chambers’ (AGC’s) had previously expressed concerns about the constitutionality of the GEG, which sought to ban individuals born from 2007 onwards from smoking or purchasing smoking products.
