Kuching: The Health Minister must explain the progress of the proposed vape ban following the Poisons Board’s approval of a proposal to exempt liquid nicotine from the Poisons List once again, says Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen.
Yii said the development raised serious questions about whether the government’s commitment to banning vape products remained unchanged, particularly after the Minister declared in December 2025 that a vape ban was “no longer a question of if, but when”.
He said the Minister had promised that a Cabinet Memorandum would be tabled in early 2026, with the ban expected to take effect by mid-2026 or, at the latest, by the end of the year.
However, with November already here, the public has yet to hear whether the memorandum was tabled, what Cabinet decided or when the ban would actually be implemented.
“If the government still intends to ban vape, it should say so clearly and explain why this exemption is needed. If its position has changed, I strongly believe the rakyat deserves an honest explanation,” he said in a statement.
Yii stressed that controlling vape was not merely a tobacco control issue but went to the heart of preventing non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including heart disease, stroke, cancer and chronic lung disease.
Citing the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2023, he noted that 54.4 per cent of Malaysian adults were overweight or obese, while nearly 2.3 million people were living with three NCDs simultaneously.
He warned that making nicotine vapes easier to buy would move the country in the wrong direction, particularly as nicotine addiction often starts during adolescence.
Yii urged the government not to gazette any exemption for liquid nicotine before Cabinet makes a final decision on the ban.
He also called for a firm implementation date, strict enforcement of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024, particularly against sales to minors and online sales, and free cessation services at clinics and pharmacies.
He further urged the government to channel tobacco, vape and sugar-sweetened beverage duty revenue towards health promotion, cessation services and NCD screening.
“The Minister has said the right things before. Now he must tell Parliament and the rakyat where the vape ban stands, and whether re-exempting liquid nicotine means that ban has been quietly abandoned,” he said.
