Health Ministry To Monitor Sales Of E-Cigarettes

BANGI (Selangor, Malaysia), Jan 15 (Bernama) – The Health Ministry will closely monitor the sale of electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes, said its minister Liow Tiong Lai on Monday. He noted that e-cigarettes containing liquid nicotine in various concentration were being sold in the market. "Consumers must be aware that nicotine-laced e-cigarettes are harmful to health and can increase smoking addiction," he told reporters after launching the 'First 1,000 Days of Life Towards Building a Healthy Generation' campaign at Bandar Seri Putra health clinic, here, on Monday. Liow was asked to comment on Sarawak state health director, Dr Zulkifli Jantan's statement that selling, distributing or storing e-cigarettes was an offence under the Poisons Act 1952 and Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984. E-cigarettes, which use liquid nicotine to produce the required vapour are believed to be sold rampantly and a hit with smokers. Liow said there was currently no control over the sale of e-cigarettes in the country as they were actually meant to reduce smoking addiction. However, he said liquid nicotine was listed under the Poisons Act 1952 and it could only be sold through licensed pharmacists and registered medical practitioners. Liow said a detailed study would be carried out to determine the effectiveness of e-cigarettes in reducing smoking addiction. On the campaign, Liow said it emphasised proper healthcare and nutrition from early pregnancy till the child was two years old. "Studies have shown proper healthcare and nutrition is crucial during this period as it provides a window of opportunity to prevent health problems like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer later,” he said. He said problems like low birthweight, obesity, high blood pressure, anaemia and diabetes could be avoided if proper attention to healthcare and nutrition was given during this period. Though Malaysia had made vast improvements in maternity healthcare with anaemia among pregnant mothers dropping from 32.6 per cent in 2005 to 14.5 per cent as of September last year and the low birthweight rate (less that 2.5 kilogrammes) standing at 11 per cent, much better than the world average of 15 per cent, Liow said more needed to be done in these areas. He added all 800 maternity clinics in the country were involved in the initiative. -- BERNAMA