Clear policies required to prevent nicotine, vaping addiction among Malaysia's youths, says council for tobacco control

With an increasing number of youths vaping, Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control (MCTC) president Professor Dr M. Murallitharan says the government must show how it plans to protect children from addiction and preventable disease.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has been urged to establish a clear national pathway towards a Smoke Free Malaysia by 2040, with the prevention of nicotine addiction among children and cessation among existing users as central objectives.

Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control (MCTC) president Professor Dr M. Murallitharan said state intervention was necessary to protect young people.

“The ultimate test of tobacco and nicotine policy must not be how much revenue a product can generate,” said Dr Murallitharan.

“It is how effectively the government protects its people, especially children, from addiction and preventable disease.”

The Health Ministry had previously acknowledged that achieving the 2040 target is a collective responsibility and can be achieved by standing firm on policies rooted in the public interest.

Last October, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said more than 100 million people, including at least 15 million children aged between 13 and 15, use e-cigarettes, fuelling a new wave of nicotine addiction.

According to the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2022, about 14.9 per cent of Malaysians aged between 13 and 17 use vape products, representing more than 300,000 adolescents.

The WHO said that, based on available global figures, children are, on average, nine times more likely than adults to vape. The organisation urged governments worldwide to step up tobacco control, including implementing and enforcing the MPOWER measures, which are intended to assist country-level implementation of effective interventions to reduce the demand for tobacco, as contained in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).

The WHO FCTC aims to close loopholes that allow the tobacco and nicotine industries to target children while regulating new nicotine products such as e-cigarettes.

In a statement today, Murallitharan said the MCTC also backed the Perak government’s decision to defend its policy to end the sale of electronic cigarettes and vape products in the state, despite a judicial review application brought by representatives of the vape industry earlier this year.

The Perak government had banned the sale of vapes at premises under the jurisdiction of local authorities from Jan 1, 2026. Vape operators in the state had been given until October this year to cease sales following the state’s decision to stop issuing licences for the sale of vape products.

On Aug 21, Perak state human resources, health, Indian community affairs and national integration committee chairman Datuk A. Sivanesan was quoted in a news report as saying that a judicial review application had been filed against the state government at the Ipoh High Court on March 18. The application was filed by the president of the Malaysia E-Vaporizers and Tobacco Alternative Association (MEVTA) and vape company SS City Electronics Enterprise.

The state government was named as the first respondent, the Perak menteri besar as the second respondent and the Tanjong Malim District Council as the third respondent. The challenge, according to Sivanesan, appeared to question whether the state government had acted beyond the powers or jurisdiction conferred by law.

Dr Murallitharan said the MCTC considers Perak’s position an important exercise of government responsibility to protect public health, particularly children and young people, from nicotine addiction.

He said that while the pending judicial review at the Ipoh High Court should be allowed to determine the legal questions involved, the challenge must not be misrepresented as establishing that the state government has no legitimate role in protecting its population from the harms of vaping.

Dr Murallitharan cited the recent Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment in Majlis Kawalan Tembakau Malaysia & 2 Ors v Menteri Kesihatan Malaysia & Anor, which he said provides important guidance on the responsibilities of government when making decisions affecting public health.

He said the Kuala Lumpur High Court found that the protection of public health and Malaysia’s international commitments under the WHO FCTC and the Convention on the Rights of the Child were relevant considerations in government decision-making.

“The Kuala Lumpur High Court expressly found that the minister had breached the duty to protect public health and failed to act consistently with those international commitments in the circumstances of that case,” Dr Murallitharan added.

He said the judgment also emphasised that matters concerning the right to health warrant heightened scrutiny because the minister was entrusted by Parliament to protect public health and, as far as possible, ensure a clean and healthy environment for people in Malaysia.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court case, Dr Murallitharan said, is highly relevant to the current national debate on vaping.

“The Kuala Lumpur High Court recognised the serious public health concerns associated with nicotine and vaping, including nicotine addiction among young people. The evidence before the court included concerns about increasing youth use, nicotine concentration, initiation of smoking and the broader health risks associated with e-cigarettes and vape products.”

“It should also be noted that the Kuala Lumpur High Court said that before the Health Ministry’s decision to remove liquid and gel nicotine from the Poisons List in 2023, nicotine was classified as a Group C poison and subject to restrictions under the Poisons Act 1952.”

MCTC therefore reiterates that taxation may be one instrument of tobacco control, but it cannot substitute for effective measures to reduce the availability, accessibility and attractiveness of addictive nicotine products, particularly to young people.

Perak’s approach, Dr Murallitharan said, is significant because it uses the licensing powers available to local authorities to progressively remove commercial access to vape products.

He said the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Health has also recorded that local authorities can use their licensing powers to control the sale of vape products, although local government enforcement faces practical and legal limitations.

“The Perak government has stated publicly that its policy is intended to protect public health, particularly the younger generation. Its determination to defend that policy in court is therefore welcomed by MCTC,” said Dr Murallitharan, adding that a consistent national policy is now urgently needed.

“The different approaches taken by federal and state authorities underline the need for the federal government to provide a clear and coherent national policy on vaping.”

“Where evidence demonstrates that existing controls are inadequate, governments should be able to adopt stronger measures within their lawful powers.”

The MCTC, he said, called on the federal government to support states and local authorities that take stronger lawful measures to reduce the availability of vape products and urgently clarify the legal relationship between the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 and the Poisons Act 1952, particularly following the Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment and the government’s withdrawal of its appeal.

The 2024 Act, which came into force on Oct 1 last year, regulates the sale, purchase, use, advertising, promotion and display of tobacco and vape products.

Dr Murallitharan also urged the government to close remaining regulatory gaps concerning nicotine-containing products, product composition, nicotine concentration, flavours, devices and sales, and strengthen enforcement against illegal and unregistered products, including those supplied to children and adolescents.