Poor implementation could scupper tobacco control policy

DURING the tabling of the revised Budget 2023 on Feb 24, Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that his administration was going ahead with the Generational Endgame (GEG) policy.

Introduced by then Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin on Feb 17 last year, GEG seeks to ban smoking and possession of tobacco products, including vape, for those born on Jan 1, 2007 and thereafter.

The initiative was modelled after New Zealand’s Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act, which, among others, banned the sale of cigarettes (but not vaping devices) to those born after 2009 with the aim of creating a smoke-free generation. The Act came into force in New Zealand on Jan 1, 2023.

In theory, GEG is a good move and the PM must be commended for sticking with this sound policy from the previous administration. By restricting the sale of cigarettes to the young, the government is helping to avert major respiratory-related illnesses among them in the future. This in turn will save the country huge sums in medical bills.

But considering that Malaysia is notorious for poor implementation of well-intended policies, there’s a need to exercise caution on an initiative as ambitious as the GEG. For one, the government will impose an excise duty on liquid or gel products containing nicotine, as announced in the Budget speech.

In other words, such products will be regulated. That being the case, laws like the Poisons Act must be amended to authorise non-medical parties to sell nicotine, which is currently listed as a Group C poison and can only be sold by registered pharmacists and doctors.

The Food Act 1983 also needs to be looked at, as the law currently only covers conventional cigarettes and tobacco products.

Amending laws take time, and the government needs to ensure that the legislative and regulatory framework are in place to ensure the GEG law is implemented systematically. There is no need to rush into something, like the GEG law, that has far-reaching implications.

Another aspect that the government needs to consider is the use of ecigarettes like vapes and heated tobacco products as a form of harm reduction.

We all know that cigarettes are harmful and contain carcinogens. But kicking the habit, especially for long-time smokers, is not as simple as flipping a switch. One of the most realistic and effective ways to do this is through harm reduction. This is not an “either-or” choice.

For example, the findings of a study published in The Lancet, one of the world’s leading medical journals, in May last year reported that tobacco control strategies are not working in most parts of the world (“Tobacco control: getting to the finish line”; https://bit.ly/3SJ1nmE)

Meanwhile, the US Centres For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that heated tobacco aerosols “have lower toxicity, and do not create new hazards compared to conventional cigarette smoke” (https://bit.ly/41y2gT4).

At the end of the day, GEG is a good policy and I’m glad the current government has chosen to go ahead with making it a reality. But we should not scupper it with poor implementation.

JOSEPH GOMEZ

Petaling Jaya