Law amendment proposed to establish a tobacco-free generation

Key government stakeholders of Maldives have requested the country's government to amend its laws to establish a generation free from the dangers of tobacco and smoking.

The request was made at Parliament's Committee on Social Affairs, where the Health Ministry, Health Protection Agency (HPA) and senior police officials were summoned regarding potential amendments to the Tobacco Control Act.

ADK Hospital's Managing Director Ahmed Afaal also attended the meetings as a member of the Tobacco Control Board under the HPA, and urged the government to amend laws to build a tobacco-free generation.

He pointed out policies adopted by other developed countries, where tobacco products are banned from being sold to individuals born after a certain year.

"What I propose additionally is, when we look at changing this law 14 years from now, that a smoke free generation also be incorporated into the law. This is, in some countries, New Zealand has already implemented this. It works in the UK, It works in Singapore. Australia too, will pass it very soon," he said.

Afaal also highlighted that tobacco's harm is definitively known. While about MVR 2 billion is spent on the healthcare system, the value of the tobacco business is also at MVR 1.8 billion, he said.

Speaking further, he also said that among the 11 countries in the region, Maldives imposes the lowest taxes on tobacco products, and said increasing tax on such products would facilitate more people to quit smoking.

He also reflected on international studies, Afaal said that when electronic smoking devices became prevalent, teenagers had to be taken to poison centres for treatment every three hours. Based on this, Afaal proposed that all e-cigarettes also be banned.

He went on to say that sudden deaths among the youth and children fainting in buses are observed in Maldives as well. Although a formal study has not been conducted, he links these events to smoking and said smoking poses a significant threat to the Maldivian people.

HPA's Deputy Director General Hassan Mohamed said in the same meeting that despite the Tobacco Control Act being in effect for 14 years, only two regulations have been made under the law.

Hassan questioned how many children would have newly started smoking due to the lack of full implementation of this law, and claimed there are no other enforcers of the law except Maldives Customs.

He recalled going to the Parliament back in 2010 to work on the tobacco control regulations, and said that the regulations were quite comprehensive at the committee stage. However, when it got passed, the regulations became more generic, he said, adding that this is why individual regulations are required.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Abdulla Shareef said that if the Tobacco Control Act is implemented similar to how traffic violations are issued violation tickets, a good outcome would be seen. He also said that it is not that they are not trying to implement the existing law, but that it needs effective changes.

As of recent, fights, vaping and actions unacceptable for the society are seen happening in schools, Maldives Police Service highlighted, sharing an incident that took place about two months back in Malé.

"A vape was offered to a child travelling on a bus because they knew the child vapes. When it is offered, the child uses it, the vape. As soon as the child uses the vape, the child falls inside the bus. Further investigation showed it contained drugs, the vape was prepared with drugs," a police official said.

Attendees of the meeting also called for individuals to be barred from receiving government services if they have outstanding smoking related fines.

The government of Maldives is currently taking significant steps towards restricting smoking in the country. Recently it banned the import of vapes in the country from 15th of this month, and will ban the use of such devices from December 15 onwards. Additionally, amendments to the Tobacco Control Act are also being considered, with stricter implementation. As of November 1, Maldives has also increased duty collected from cigarettes and hand rolled ones.