Putrajaya is considering a nationwide ban on the use and sale of e-cigarettes or vapes, says Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
The ban will be proposed by the Health Ministry’s special committee to address the abuse of vape, according to Dzulkefly at a press conference in Parliament here yesterday.
He added that the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852) regulates vape but does not currently include a ban.
Dzulkefly said the ban on vape products requires thorough assessment from legal, industry, government revenue and licensing perspectives.
Earlier, when answering a question from Datuk Ahmad Saad (PAS-Pokok Sena), Dzukefly said a committee meeting was held on July 22.
“We will also hold discussions with several ministries – Finance, Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, and the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministries, as well as the Attorney General’s Chambers.”
Dzulkefly said his ministry also welcomed the decisions of Johor, Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis, Kedah and Pahang to stop issuing or renewing vape sales licences, which was in line with public health goals and local licensing powers.
“But this ruling is limited and does not cover all premises, including grocery stores,” Dzulkefly added.
Ahmad had asked about the government’s response to a decision by several state governments to ban the sale of vape products.
Meanwhile, Dzulkefly said under Act 852, the Health Ministry had conducted 15,775 operations, issued 78,424 notices and opened 524 investigation papers as of June 30.
The Act covers the registration of smoking and vape products, the ban on underage individuals, and sales restrictions for smoking and vape products, among others.
According to him, there were 3,200 brands, consisting of 6,800 variants of vape products, prior to the enforcement of Act 852, which began on Oct 1 last year.
“Now, there are only 390 brands, consisting of 2,794 variants that were registered.”
He also said that 2,619 notices had been issued to underaged smokers and 27 notices to those who bought smoking products.
Dzulkefly said the Health Ministry has assisted 36,780 secondary school students in smoking cessation programmes, identifying 230 primary and 44,211 secondary school students for intervention.
“The 111 one-stop centres to curb addiction and 857 smoking cessation clinics are ready to serve, ” said Dzulkefly adding that beginning Aug 1, the Health Ministry will launch “Selamat PaPa” (save the lungs) and “Ops Selamatkan MaMa” (for passive smoking) to drive the agenda of smoking cessation.
Going by the latest figures from the cancer registry from 2022 to 2023, there were 8,091 males and 5,251 females with lung cancer, this initiative is indeed timely.
“The difference is not huge and this reminds us that saving ‘papa’ is also about saving ‘mama’,” he said.
Johor, Pahang and Kelantan have fully banned the sale of vape products while Kedah will stop issuing new licences for vape stores. Terengganu and Perlis will ban the sale of vape products on Aug 1.
