Health Ministry S 5 Year Plan To Prevent Teens From Smoking

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The Health Ministry said it is striving towards a smoke-free community even though the Generational Endgame (GEG) policy was dropped from the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024, which came into effect last year.
It said among the efforts is a five-year plan covering prevention, promotion, screening, and intervention for all Malaysians starting from pre-school, to schools, universities, and the community to ensure those under the age of 18 remain smoke-free.
“This initiative is carried out through collaboration with various ministries, government and private agencies, professional bodies, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
“This implementation plan has also been extended to target teenagers who are not furthering their education.
“In addition, several advocacy activities are also being carried out, including prevention and intervention for teenagers, such as the Oral Health Programme Without Smoking (Kotak) for primary and secondary school students,” the ministry said in a written response on the Dewan Negara website today.
This was in response to a question raised by Senator Musoddak Ahmad who wanted to know the government’s stance on re-evaluating the GEG Policy to reduce the risk of disease caused by the harmful effects of smoking.
The ministry also announced it is collaborating with the Education Ministry to train counselling teachers and Drug Prevention Education (PPDa) teachers to handle students who are involved in smoking.
Enforcement under Section 13 of Act 852 prohibits the sale of smoking products to teenagers, while Section 17 of Act 852 prohibits individuals who are still minors from consuming smoking products, including electronic cigarettes or vapes.
- Bernama

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