KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry is geared up to tackle any challenges or obstacles that may come its way in successfully implementing the Generational End Game (GEG) Policy.
The GEG seeks to introduce a new Tobacco and Smoking Control Act to ban smoking and possession of tobacco products, including electronic vaporisers for people born after 2005.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said while the ministry acknowledges that enforcement would pose a challenge, he stressed that the authorities would work hard to plug any gaps.
"Let's get the law passed in parliament this July! Generational end game to smoking. Those born after 2005 will not be able to buy smoking products, ever.
"Yes, enforcement will be an issue and we will work hard on this. But let's shut the door shut once and for all for our youth."
Khairy wrote in retweeting a New Straits Times' article on a recent survey titled, "Malaysian Acceptability of Generation End Game Policy: A Public Opinion Poll".
The survey by the Malaysian Green Lung Association found that Malaysians were largely receptive to the government's GEG Policy.
The online public poll, supported by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) showed that more than 97 per cent of 928 respondents were in favour of the GEG.
The public poll, conducted online using Google Form from Feb 23, 2022, until March 13, 2022, was designed to collect data from all Malaysians, focusing on the young demographic aged 24 years old and younger cross-sectionally.
Among the reasons respondents cited for not supporting the GEG, were concerns about the impact of authoritarian policy on personal choice; weak enforcement; and the black market.
Khairy had on March 26 said the new law would be tabled in Parliament in July.
He had further said the "Generational End Game" for smoking in the country, would help to reduce exposure to cigarettes and tobacco products for future generations.
Tobacco use accounts for 25 per cent of all cancer deaths globally and is the primary cause of lung cancer, according to the World Health Organisation.