Read articles from Asia

November 27, 2023 by freemalaysiatoday.com

This week, if all goes according to plan, the health ministry will once again attempt to finally table the Control of Smoking Product for Public Health Bill 2023 for debate and passage in the Dewan Rakyat. After several false starts and mishaps, this version of the proposed piece of omnibus legislation, previously known as the Tobacco And Smoking Control Bill and popularly known as the Generational Endgame (GEG) Bill, will be missing a key component. It will not feature any provision referencing the GEG. These have been removed or decoupled from the bill.

November 23, 2023 by vietnamnews.vn

Electronic nicotine delivery, known as e-cigarettes, must be completely banned in Việt Nam, said Dr Nguyễn Trung Nguyên, director of the Poison Control Centre under Bạch Mai Hospital at a workshop in Hà Nội on Thursday. Nguyên said the chemical and drug composition of e-cigarettes is much more complex than that of traditional cigarettes. Synthetic marijuana existing in e-cigarettes has become the largest, most complex and most challenging drug type. He said it is necessary to immediately ban e-cigarettes in Việt Nam without any trial basis.

November 21, 2023 by thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Speakers on Monday underscored the need for a strong political will to ban the new form of tobacco consumption called e-cigarette. They also urged the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to speed up the banning of e-cigarette by amending the existing tobacco control law. Adolescents and youths in urban areas were found to be fond of using e-cigarette as a fashion. Hence, there was a risk of a rapid rise in e-cigarette use in the country due to misconceptions and strategic marketing by tobacco companies, they warned. Bangladesh is already among the top ten countries in terms of prevalence of tobacco users. Given this context, the proliferation of new tobacco products such as e-cigarette is a matter of concern.

November 21, 2023 by thestar.com.my

Vape and electronic cigarettes must be regulated immediately through future rules, says Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh. She said this is important not only for athletes but also for the community at large. Yeoh told the Dewan Rakyat that her ministry had gazetted complexes under its purview to be free of cigarette smoking and vaping. “This is in consideration of other existing tobacco control legislations stating that smoking is restricted in stadiums and sports areas,” she said during her ministry’s winding-up speech at the committee level on Tuesday (Nov 21).

November 20, 2023 by inquirer.net

A consumer advocate asked the government of Thailand to follow the lead of the Philippines in passing legislation that encourages millions of smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives to prevent deaths and diseases. Asa Saligupta, director of ENDS Cigarette Smoke Thailand (ECST), said Thailand’s ban on smoking alternatives only pushed these products underground, resulting in an unregulated market that deprives the government of revenues and forces consumers to keep on smoking.

November 15, 2023 by indiatimes.com

NEW DELHI: Teachers from leading schools across India on Children’s Day wrote to the ministry of education to raise awareness about the adverse effects of electronic cigarettes in all forms and educate teachers, parents and children about the recent clarifications in law which ban manufacture, sale and even possession of these devices. The teachers expressed their concern over tobacco companies disseminating misleading information that portrays new-age e-cigarettes as either harmless or less harmful in comparison to smoking traditional cigarettes.

November 07, 2023 by malaymail.com

The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has encouraged parents of children below 18-years-old harmed by e-cigarettes or vaping to consider taking legal action against the government. [...] “We urge parents of children below 18 whose health had been affected as a result of consuming e-cigarettes or vaping products, to consider taking legal action against the government for ignoring expert advice and for failing in its duties to adequately protect citizens, especially young children against the health dangers of vaping,” Dr Azizan said.

October 30, 2023 by inquirer.net

The latest Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) shows that 14.1 percent of youth aged 13 to 15 are current vape users. This is a jump from 11 percent in 2015. This modest increase is enough to worry some health advocates, intensifying calls for greater regulation of vaping products. It is certainly the case that these kids should not be touching any sort of smoking or vaping paraphernalia. In that regard, more stringent vaping regulations might be warranted. However, things must be put in perspective when reporting about these trends.

October 27, 2023 by tobaccoreporter.com

Health authorities in Taiwan are worried about the growing popularity of flavored tobacco products, especially among young students and women, reports Taiwan News. In a 2022 survey, 18.2 percent of those aged 18 and older who smoke reported using flavored tobacco products, up from the 15.6 percent recorded in 2020. Female respondents exhibited a higher usage rate, with 43.8 percent showing an interest in these products, compared to 14.3 percent reported among males, according to the Health Promotion Administration (HPA).

October 23, 2023 by bangkokpost.com

Over the past several years, we have seen the world wake up to the question of whether vapes and e-cigarettes are a better alternative to tobacco, which is well documented as harmful to our health. Authorities in the UK are preparing to ban the sale and manufacture of single-use vapes by next year [...] We have witnessed a growing debate over the safety of vaping in Thailand, where it is illegal but nonetheless widely available. The question is whether vapes and e-cigarettes are as harmful as traditional tobacco products. People are also concerned about the reasons behind the ban, and whether or not smokers should switch to vaping for better health.