Law Will Help Malaysia Reach Goal: Minister

Malaysia’s recently enacted tobacco law should help the country achieve its goal of reducing smoking incidence to 15 percent by 2025, according to Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad, reports The Star.

The share of smokers among Malaysians aged 15 and above dropped from 21.3 percent to 19 percent in recent years.

“Now, we have four percentage points left to achieve the target baseline,” Dzulkefly said. “I hope we can hit 15 percent by December 2025,” he told reporters during a media briefing on the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852), which came into force Oct 1.

The Act covers regulations on the registration, sale, packaging, labelling and prohibition of smoking in public places.

Previously, the 2023 Global Adult Tobacco Survey Malaysia reported that it is unlikely for the country to reach its 15 percent target as it took 12 years to reduce the rate of tobacco smokers by four percentage points from 2011 to 2023.

Dzulkefly said enforcement of Act 852 could help reduce the tobacco smoking habit among adults.

While the share of Malaysian smoking dropped, the proportion of people vaping grew from 3.2 percent in 2016 to 5.8 percent in 2024.

Dzulkefly said the health ministry will determine its prevalence in the future to better tackle the habit.

“Right now, the national prevalence of vaping is at 5.8 percent, so we will only be able to determine our targets once we have the figures tallied,” he said.