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E-cigarettes will help Malaysia reduce smoking population to 4 million by 2025

E-cigarettes will help Malaysia reduce smoking population to 4 million by 2025

2022-06-22

Malaysians are sceptical about the effectiveness of plans to ban the sale of tobacco and vaping products to people born after 2005, according to a survey by the Retail and Trade Brand Advocacy (RTBA) Malaysia chapter relayed by the New Straits Times.

In January, Malaysia's Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said he wanted to follow New Zealand's lead in banning smoking for the next generation of Malaysians, which announced a similar policy in December.


Eighty-five percent of respondents to the RTBA survey said the ban would not work and would create a black market for cigarettes and vaping products. They also said the ban would be difficult to enforce and ultimately affect Malaysian laws and local businesses.


"Banning is not the solution," said Fazli Nordin, managing director of RTBA Malaysia. “For example, the sale of nicotine-containing vaping products is currently banned in the market. However, there is still consumer demand for nicotine-containing vaping products. The worst is the tobacco black market, due to the huge price gap between legal and illegal products in Malaysia. Has the highest level of illegal cigarettes in the world.”


Nearly 1,200 Malaysians took part in a survey by RTBA Malaysia, an NGO that protects businesses from criminality.


Fazli said that while Malaysia's plans were inspired by New Zealand, they differed in that New Zealand had no plans to ban vaping products.


"Instead, the country promotes e-cigarettes as a less harmful alternative and encourages New Zealanders to switch from traditional cigarettes to traditional cigarettes," he said.


Encouraging smokers to switch to e-cigarettes as a less harmful alternative will help Malaysia reduce its smoking population to 4 million by 2025, according to a recent study.


The report estimates that such a strategy would help the country reduce spending on smoking-related diseases by 1.3 billion ringgit ($310.21 million) in 2025.


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