MELAKA – The Health Ministry hopes that the bill to regulate all smoking products, including those containing nicotine, will be tabled in Parliament early next month.
The Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill is vital to protect the health of the younger generation, said Deputy Health Minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni, adding that it comprises two main aspects: the control of smoking products, including vapes and e-cigarettes, and the implementation of the generational endgame policy.
He said the bill could not be tabled in the previous parliamentary session due to the preceding government’s dissolution, but the ministry was committed to tabling it for its first reading after the Kaamatan and Gawai holidays.
“Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa brought the bill paper to the cabinet last week and I was informed that the cabinet has agreed for the Health Ministry to table the bill for the first reading,” he told reporters after launching the national-level World No Tobacco Day 2023 here today.
Also present were Melaka Health, Human Resources, and Unity executive councillor Ngwe Hee Sem and state Health Director Datuk Dr Rusdi Abd Rahman.
Commenting further, Lukanisman said the bill’s implementation must be expedited, citing the National Health and Morbidity Survey, which reported that the number of Malaysian teenagers who use e-cigarettes increased by 14.9% to 307,109 last year, compared to 9.8% or 211,084 in 2017.
Of the total, 242,849 users were teenage boys while 64,260 were girls, he added. – Bernama, May 31, 2023
