KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — Nearly 50 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have questioned the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) data on enforcement against online vape advertising and sales.
The MOH said in a statement last Monday that 233,831 compounds were issued for compoundable offences and 4,226 investigation papers were opened for non-compoundable offences under the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852) as of last April 30, in a response to complaints about online vape advertising and sales.
“The statement raises an important question regarding data transparency and the effectiveness of such enforcement efforts,” said the Medical Mythbusters Malaysia, Malaysia Council for Tobacco Control (MCTC), and other groups in a statement by 49 groups.
They questioned whether the 233,831 compounds truly reflected action taken against online vape advertising and sales, which are the primary concerns of the public today.
The NGOs noted that the compoundable offences involved smoking in designated no-smoking areas, underage persons smoking, failure to display no-smoking signs, and premise owners failing to take reasonable steps to prevent smoking.
“Fundamentally, these statistics relate more to usage and compliance offences detected on the ground rather than offences involving digital marketing or sales through e-commerce platforms.
“Therefore, when such statistics are used in a media statement concerning online vape advertising and sales, they may create the perception that overall enforcement figures are being used to demonstrate MOH’s firmness, even though they may not necessarily reflect specific action against the online vape sales ecosystem.”
The health and anti-tobacco groups said the same applied to the 4,226 investigation papers opened for non-compoundable offences.
“Without a detailed breakdown, the public cannot determine how many of these cases actually involved vape advertisements on social media; vape promotions by influencers; vape sales to minors, particularly through e-commerce platforms; and vape sales to minors at vape retail outlets.”
The groups similarly questioned MOH data on 398 cases under prosecution and 204 completed cases resulting in fines totalling RM1.189 million that may appear substantial from an enforcement perspective.
“However, without disclosure of case categories, the public cannot assess whether these actions genuinely target the main drivers of increasing vape use among adolescents or are instead focused on offences that are easier to detect through conventional field enforcement.”
They pointed out that if the MOH indeed carried out 34,903 enforcement activities until April 30, there should be a noticeable reduction in online vape advertising and sales.
“Yet the current reality appears otherwise. Vape products remain readily available on social media and e-commerce platforms. Promotions employing modern marketing techniques, including colourful branded advertisements, continue to be widespread.
“There are also allegations that sales are conducted covertly using specific keywords or private ordering systems, making monitoring and enforcement even more difficult.”
The groups cited the Ministry of Education’s Student Discipline Management System data that 19,450 school students were recorded as being involved in vape use in 2024.
“When usage statistics continue to rise despite thousands of enforcement operations, the public has the right to ask whether current enforcement strategies are truly targeting the primary supply channels that provide vape products to young people,” said the NGOs.
“From a public health perspective, effective enforcement is not merely about issuing compounds to users or premises owners. It must disrupt the supply and marketing chains that make these products easily accessible to the target population.
“If vape advertisements continue to appear freely on social media, if sales can still be conducted through online platforms, and if adolescents can still obtain these products easily, then the perception formed will be that enforcement of digital activities remains weaker than conventional on-the-ground enforcement.”
The 49 groups urged the MOH to disclose detailed statistics, such as:
- The number of online vape advertisements removed;
- The number of notices or enforcement actions taken against e-commerce platforms;
- The number of social media accounts subjected to enforcement action;
- The number of cases involving vape sales to minors through digital platforms;
- The number of seizures resulting from cyber enforcement operations; and
- The number of prosecutions specifically related to online vape promotion and sales.
“Ultimately, from the perspective of public perception, the issue is not simply how many enforcement operations have been conducted, but whether those operations have successfully reduced youth access to vape products.
“As long as vape use among students continues to increase and digital sales remain active, there will continue to be a perception that enforcement against online vape advertising and sales is weak and concealed behind broad, non-specific enforcement statistics.”
