Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control (MCTC) honorary secretary-general Sha’ani Abdullah said expanding the tax on tobacco was long overdue, as this had not been revised in nearly 10 years.
“I understand that the objective of instituting the tax is to reduce tobacco usage in an impactful way, but since the tax hasn’t seen any increments in years, this increase needs to be substantial.
“After all, we haven’t seen a meaningful reduction (in tobacco use) thus far,” he told FMT.
Sha’ani argued that expanding the tax was an inadequate response to public health concerns over vapes and e-cigarettes and reiterated MCTC’s call for a complete ban.
“The increase in vaping is, undoubtedly, a major problem. It’s not just teenagers who are becoming victims now as children in primary school are being exposed to it, too.
“So, we disagree with (the tax expansion) on this front. Vapes should be banned totally.”
Dr M Murallitharan, managing director of the National Cancer Society of Malaysia, said those in public health welcomed the tax expansion as they had strongly advocated the raising of taxes on these products over the past few years.
However, he said this expansion alone cannot be a “be all, end all” in curbing nicotine use, adding that more needs to be done to make a difference.
“It’s important, in going forward with this expanded tax, to ensure vape and cigarette prices are kept on par with one another. Otherwise, people will still go for vape products as a cheaper alternative.
“Of course, the end game for me and a lot of us in health education is for people to not go down the road of nicotine consumption at all. If we were to ban (vapes), it’d be much better than any taxes.”
Murallitharan nonetheless expressed hope that the additional revenue gained through the expanded tax would be channelled back into the public health sector.
Earlier today, as part of the 13th Malaysia Plan, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that a pro-health tax, currently covering sugar-sweetened drinks, would be expanded to include tobacco, vape, and alcohol.
The tax began in 2019 as an excise duty of RM0.40 per litre levied on all ready-to-drink packaged beverages containing more than 5g of sugar per 100ml.
Anwar said this measure was not simply about increasing tax revenue but part of tackling health risks, especially in view of the increase in non-communicable diseases among Malaysians.
The current tobacco tax in Malaysia is 58.6% of retail prices.