Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy said the Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) strategies can only complement tobacco control interventions.
“Smoking tobacco products, e-cigarettes and vaping have different degrees of health risks and consequences. I believe vaping should be banned,” its chief executive, Azrul Mohd Khalib, said.
He told FMT there was no reason to change earlier anti-smoking strategies, which had been abandoned even before they could succeed.
He gave an example of former health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad’s measures to handle the smoking issue.
Among other things, Dzulkefly had suggested in 2019 to impose social work on offenders caught smoking in public places.
The social work included cleaning toilets, collecting rubbish and cutting grass.
Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin also recently called for stricter enforcement against smoking at food premises with the easing of dine-in restrictions.
The prohibition on smoking at food premises came into effect in January last year under the Control of Tobacco Product (Amendment) Regulations 2018.
“The current health minister appears to be interested in continuing where (Dzulkefly) left off,” Azrul said.
He said THR strategies were used in the belief that they can help reduce the harm caused by cigarettes, as smokers are unable or unwilling to stop using nicotine.
The belief itself is quite widespread.
Malaysian think tank Datametrics Research & Information Centre (DARE) conducted a poll called “Clearing the Smoke: An Insight on Tobacco Harm Reduction” and found that 80% of Malaysians believe THR strategies could help smokers quit traditional tobacco products.
About 51% of the respondents also felt vaping was the most practical and safest way to quit smoking.
Azrul said there is a need to determine what actually constitutes THR and whether it also refers to products such as nicotine replacement therapy or vaping.
“There needs to be an objective assessment and discussion about the potential costs and benefits of such an approach,” he said.
Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control (MCTC) president Dr Lekhraj Rampal said THR was a “deception by the tobacco industry to keep the smoking habit going, in the name of reducing it”.
“THR is only going to prolong the smoking cessation process and may often fail,” he told FMT.
He cited the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study, that took into account five years of publicly available data, which found no evidence that e-cigarettes could help smokers quit.
PATH is a study of tobacco use and health in the US and is a collaboration between the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products.
Lekhraj said the tobacco control programmes, as outlined in the National Strategic Plan on Tobacco Control, should continue and not be derailed if there is a change in health minister or government.
He suggested implementing demand reduction strategies by expanding the no-smoking restriction to all public areas, including workplaces, which would force smokers to reduce their smoking habit.
He said it would also be effective against smuggling and illicit trading of tobacco products.
“It will also be effective against the sale of tobacco products to minors which will prevent the recruitment of new smokers,” he added.