Dr Colin Mendelsohn, author of the evidence-based self-help guide Stop Smoking Start Vaping, is an Australian expert on Smoking cessation and tobacco harm reduction (THR). "It should be encouraged as a smoking cessation aid for the many Adult smokers in Malaysia who cannot quit by other means, as is the case in the United Kingdom and New Zealand," FocusM quoted Mendelsohn as saying.
As part of the government's Tobacco Endgame Strategy 2040, which is a strategy to make Malaysia smoke-free by 2040, the local government recently announced plans to ban the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products, e-cigarettes and e-cigarettes to anyone after 2005.
"This is by making it illegal to sell tobacco and other smoking products to anyone born after 2005," Jamaluddin said. "Malaysia believes that this will have a major impact on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDS)," he added.
The time will come, says the health minister, when the next generation "will no longer know what a cigarette is". Echoing Mendelsohn's views, Dr Arifin Fi, a local doctor with experience in addiction treatment in Malaysia, recently stressed that the tobacco harm reduction (THR) approach would help reverse the problems caused by smoking across the country.
The approach to reducing tobacco harm strikes the right balance
Although Mendelsohn added that the country is unlikely to achieve its smoke-free goals without the recognition of safer alternatives. "Without it, Malaysia is highly unlikely to achieve zero tobacco by 2040," he added. THR experts explain that a regulatory system that facilitates reporting of harmful effects and recalls of unsafe products must be introduced.
"E-cigarette regulations need to strike a balance between providing adult smokers with a high-quality, regulated product and limiting access for young people who don't smoke," he noted. "Restrictions on e-cigarettes should be proportionate to the risks, as e-cigarettes are far less harmful than smoking."