Vietnam’s Ministry of Health proposed requiring tobacco retailers to verify customers’ ages through chip-based national ID cards or the VNeID digital identity app when buyers appear under 18. The proposed amendments to the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms would also ban tobacco product displays and images in retail outlets, replacing current limits that allow limited pack displays. The ministry said the measures aim to reduce youth access to tobacco, strengthen enforcement, and support retailers’ compliance with age restrictions. The draft legislation is expected to be submitted to the National Assembly for review in October.
Tag: tobacco control
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Türkiye Expands Anti-Smoking Drive with Free Medication
Türkiye’s Health Ministry announced it will provide free smoking-cessation medication to 1 million people, regardless of health insurance status, as part of an expanded effort to reduce smoking rates. The medication will be distributed through tobacco dependence treatment and counseling centers nationwide. The initiative comes as the government prepares legislation to further restrict smoking in outdoor public spaces, including beaches and playgrounds, as part of a broader campaign to reduce tobacco use and its visibility.
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Israeli Health Study Says 40% of Population Exposed to Second-Hand Smoke
A new Israeli Health Ministry report estimates that about 4 million people are exposed to secondhand cigarette smoke entering their homes from neighboring apartments, with more than 2 million experiencing exposure at least weekly. The report, based in part on data from the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project, calls for stronger public health measures and highlights widespread misconceptions about secondhand smoke exposure, including from balconies. The findings come as Israel’s Supreme Court considers a case that could require government ministries to introduce regulations addressing residential tobacco smoke infiltration.
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Maldives to Launch Program to Move People Away from Tobacco
The Maldives is advancing a series of tobacco policy changes, with a parliamentary committee approving a bill to reduce cigarette import duties while President Mohamed Muizzu announced plans for a nationwide tobacco cessation program. The cigarette duty bill passed the Committee of the Whole House without amendments and now moves to the next stage of the legislative process after lawmakers unanimously declined to propose any changes, despite debate over the government’s rationale for lowering the tax following the country’s ban on vaping products.
Separately, Muizzu said the government will launch a national cessation initiative through civil society organizations, with funding and incentives linked to their success in helping people quit tobacco. He also said import duties on smoking cessation products will be eliminated once the program begins to make them more affordable, adding that the proposed reduction in cigarette duties is part of a broader tobacco control strategy aligned with recommendations from the World Health Organization.
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Moldova Aligning New Smoking Bans with EU Standards
Moldova enacted comprehensive new anti-smoking regulations effective June 24, expanding smoking and vaping restrictions as part of its effort to align tobacco-control policies with European Union standards. The legislation prohibits the use of cigarettes, heated tobacco products, e-cigarettes, and hookahs in a range of additional public spaces, including sports facilities, beaches, water parks, zoos, underground pedestrian passages, passenger boarding areas, and many common areas of residential buildings. The law also bans smoking and vaping within 10 meters of public building entrances and ventilation systems.
The new framework introduces significantly higher penalties for individuals, businesses, and property managers who fail to comply with the rules. Individuals caught smoking in prohibited areas face fines of €89 to €115 or community service, while businesses and administrators can face fines exceeding €700 equivalent and potential suspension of operations for repeated violations. The legislation also prohibits the sale of oral nicotine pouches, including synthetic nicotine variants, and imposes penalties on retailers that sell tobacco products to minors. Moldovan health officials said the measures are intended to reduce youth nicotine use and exposure to secondhand smoke while bringing national regulations closer to EU tobacco-control standards.
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Korea Signals Tobacco Policy Overhaul, Price Increases
South Korean Health Minister Jung Eun-kyeong signaled a broader review of tobacco control policies, citing relatively low cigarette prices, growing use of e-cigarettes, flavored tobacco products and synthetic nicotine, and the need for both price and non-price measures. Cigarette prices have remained at 4,500 won ($2.97) per pack since 2015, well below the OECD average level of 9,869 won ($6.51) referenced in the government’s 2026–2030 National Health Promotion Plan.
While Jung stressed that an immediate tax increase is not under active consideration, she said tobacco pricing, advertising restrictions, and other regulatory measures would be reviewed as part of a new anti-smoking strategy aligned with changing market conditions and public health objectives.
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Article Examines S. Africa’s Intentions vs Consequences in Tobacco Control
A new article by Mukundi Budeli, recently published by TheCommonSense, warns that South Africa’s proposed Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill could unintentionally strengthen the illicit tobacco market by introducing plain packaging and other restrictive measures without adequate enforcement capacity. While acknowledging the public health objectives behind the legislation, Budeli argues that South Africa risks repeating mistakes seen during the 2020 tobacco sales ban, which he says failed to curb smoking and instead boosted illegal trade.
“On its own terms, the public health rationale is coherent,” Budeli wrote. “The disagreement is not about whether that goal is worthy. It is about whether this instrument, in this country, at this moment, is likely to achieve it.”
The article contends that plain packaging may make counterfeit products easier to produce in a market already plagued by weak enforcement, limited cigarette seizures, and the absence of a functioning track-and-trace system. Budeli urged policymakers to consider South Africa’s enforcement realities and the potential economic and fiscal consequences before adopting regulations modelled on measures implemented in countries with stronger regulatory infrastructure. “Policies designed in Geneva or Canberra do not automatically produce good outcomes in Johannesburg or Limpopo,” he said. “Good intentions, poorly calibrated to local conditions, have a habit of serving neither the public health goals they were designed to advance nor the broader fiscal and social interests of the country.”
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Kenya Looking to Crack Down on Shisha Offenders
The Kenyan government proposed tougher regulations targeting shisha, including fines of up to Sh1 million ($7,700) and prison terms of up to six months for offenders, arguing that the country’s 2017 ban has failed to eliminate the product from nightclubs and other venues. The proposed Public Health (Control of Waterpipe Tobacco Products) Rules, 2026 would maintain the ban on the importation, manufacture, sale, distribution, promotion, and use of shisha while expanding enforcement powers across the supply chain.
Health authorities cited continued use among young people, concerns over addiction and disease risks, and evidence of ongoing non-compliance with the existing ban. If approved, the rules would replace the 2017 regulations and establish a stricter legal framework aimed at fully eliminating waterpipe tobacco products in Kenya.
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Health Groups Urge China to Raise Tobacco Taxes
A recent article in Caixin Global reports that China is facing sustained pressure on public health systems as its population ages and chronic disease rates rise, with smoking reduction remaining a key policy challenge. At a media briefing on tobacco taxation and health co-hosted by the Beijing Tobacco Control Association, the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, and the University of International Business and Economics, experts highlighted tobacco tax increases as one of the most effective tools available to reduce smoking prevalence.
Speakers at the briefing argued that higher tobacco taxes can both discourage consumption and support broader public health goals tied to China’s long-term disease burden. The discussion comes amid ongoing concerns that smoking rates remain relatively high despite existing control measures, reinforcing calls from health experts for stronger fiscal policies as part of a wider tobacco control strategy that also addresses demographic and healthcare system pressures.
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Ohio Court to Weigh Cities’ Tobacco Ban Rules
The Ohio Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments tomorrow (June 9) in a closely watched case that could determine whether municipalities have the authority to restrict the sale of flavored tobacco and nicotine products. The dispute centers on flavored tobacco bans enacted by several Ohio cities, including Columbus, Bexley, Grandview Heights, and Worthington, and on whether those ordinances are preempted by state law.
While the case focuses on flavored tobacco products, the Columbus Dispatch says its implications could extend well beyond the nicotine category. The court’s decision is expected to clarify the scope of municipal “home rule” powers in Ohio and could influence how local governments regulate a range of industries and products. For tobacco and nicotine companies, the ruling may determine whether cities can continue to impose their own flavored product restrictions or whether such regulation will remain primarily under state control.