Malaysia Putting Health at Risk

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates’ call comes as Malaysia faces pressure to tighten vaping controls under the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852), with state-level bans and stricter nicotine limits threatening progress. CAPHRA warns such measures risk replicating failed prohibition in Bhutan and South Africa, where bans fuelled illicit markets and health risks. 

Dr. Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh is a Professor of Hospital Management and Health Economics and Deputy Dean (Relation & Wealth Creation) in the Faculty of Medicine at the UKM Medical Centre. She stated: “Enforcing stricter controls on high-risk products over safer alternatives is better than outright bans. Malaysia must differentiate between combustible cigarettes and harm reduction tools.” 

Echoing her point of view, Samsul Arrifin Kamal, MOVE Malaysia (Malaysian Organization of Vape Entity), added: “We firmly believe that an outright ban on vape products is counterproductive and could lead to unintended consequences, including the proliferation of black-market activities.  The solution lies in implementing stricter controls, risk proportionate regulations and robust enforcement mechanisms. By establishing clear guidelines for the production, sale and use of vape products, we can ensure consumer safety.” 

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Advocates criticised the WHO’s outdated stance, which ignores vaping’s role in smoking cessation. Despite Malaysia’s illicit tobacco trade dominating 55.3% of the market in 2023, WHO projects smoking rates will rise to 30% by 2025-contrasting sharply with Sweden’s 5% rate achieved through harm reduction. 

Nancy Loucas, CAPHRA Executive Coordinator said: “The WHO’s anti-harm reduction dogma costs lives. Malaysia must choose to follow failed prohibition or the evidence. Sweden’s success proves science trumps ideology.”

While Act 852 introduced nicotine caps and health warnings, proposals to ban vaping in states like Selangor and Johor risk fragmenting policy. CAPHRA urges federal-state harmonisation to avoid undermining progress.

With 68% of Malaysian ex-smokers crediting vaping for quitting combustibles, CAPHRA calls for expanding regulated access while pressuring the WHO to revise its stance.

Nancy Loucas concluded: “Malaysia can lead ASEAN by prioritising 5 million smokers’ health over outdated rhetoric.”

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Advocates is a regional alliance of consumer tobacco harm reduction advocacy organisations.

The organisation says: “CAPHRA is not related to or funded by any commercial interests. It is composed of volunteer consumer advocates from the Asia Pacific Region. We hope putting forward this information would clarify any doubt as to our interests and intentions.

“CAPHRA stays committed to its mission to educate, advocate and represent the right of adult alternative nicotine consumers to access and use of products that reduce harm from tobacco use.  We advocate for the rights of consumers in the Asia-Pacific region to access and use evidence-based, regulated, and properly marketed harm reduction products as a means of reducing the devastating impact of smoking-related diseases.”

Photo Credit:

• Photo by Putri Nabila on Unsplash

Dave Cross

Journalist at POTV

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Dave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.