A 2016 study by the Institute for Public Health found that 125,714 children born from Jan 1, 2005 smoke cigarettes, while 62,306 vape; the cohort ban prohibits tobacco and vape.
Khairy Jamaluddin says the Tobacco Bill needs to undergo more stakeholder engagement, including with NGOs, tobacco and vape industries, and will be presented at Parliament’s health committee first.
Although Khairy Jamaluddin can table the Tobacco Bill, which includes provisions on the generation smoking ban, anytime during the current Dewan Rakyat meeting, delaying it may increase chances of failed passage, like with the Act 342 amendment Bill in the last meeting.
The omission of the proposed new Tobacco Bill and Act 342 amendments from the King’s Speech raises the possibility that the government may not table these Bills in the current Parliament meeting.
Nurul Izzah Anwar supports the cohort smoking ban, but Ong Kian Ming says the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill should go through the Health PSC first, while Charles Santiago moots a cost-benefit analysis.
Khairy Jamaluddin hopes that the proposed generation endgame to smoking will reduce the number of new smokers so that MOH can focus on the existing disease burden.
While enforcement is a big issue with the prevalence of illicit cigarettes, Khairy says that should not stop Malaysia from pursuing a generational smoking ban.