We already lost a 16-year-old girl who died of acute heart failure with pulmonary embolism in a probable E-cigarette or Vaping Product Use Associated Lung Injury (Evali) case.
She had a three-year vaping history. Is the Health Ministry going to take full responsibility for more deaths linked to vaping? Can the amount collected in taxes from the sale of e-cigarette and vaping products prevent loss of life due to the damage to health caused by these products?
Has every single e-cigarette and vaping liquid or gel sold in the market been tested by the Health Ministry for its safety? Can we collect taxes on these products if we aren't even sure what is in them?
If the Health Ministry has not tested these products, then it should be ready to accept full responsibility for any unfortunate events linked to the use of e-cigarette and vaping products.
In the past, the Health Ministry had ordered recalls for certain food items over safety concerns. Will it do the same for any vape products found to be poisonous? After all, these liquids or gels are taken into the body. Or are we waiting for more hospitalisations before we act?
Prevalence of vaping
Yesterday, the high prevalence of vaping was confirmed by the Health Ministry.
Usage of electronic cigarettes or vape products among teenagers aged 13 to 17 increased from 9.8 percent in 2017 to 14.9 percent in 2022, according to the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2022.
Usage was also high among teenage girls, with a rise from 2.8 percent in 2017 to 6.2 percent in 2022.
The health director-general said, "Until today, the use of electronic cigarettes has shown to bring negative effects to users; e-cigarette or vaping product use is associated with lung disease.” The ministry also confirmed that it received 17 suspected Evali cases.
How is it possible that the ministry removed nicotine from the Poisons Act after knowing these serious risks to health? And without any regulation whatsoever in place for e-cigarette and vaping products.
The Health Ministry has been aware of the threat of Evali since 2021. It even created the Clinical Practice Guidelines Management of Evali in 2021 to assist medical practitioners to detect and treat Evali cases. But where are the preventive measures?
How can we sleep at night knowing that thousands of our young are at serious risk of lung injury and possibly even death? It is time the Health Ministry wakes up.
Re-list nicotine under the Poisons Act and get the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill passed in the current Parliament session. - Mkini
DR MURUGA RAJ RAJATHURAI is president of Malaysian Medical Association.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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