Joint crackdown needed on online sales of banned e-cigarettes and related products
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Htet Nadi/Thant Zin (NSS) - March 3
According to information obtained by The Statesman through interviews with members of the medical community, the online sale of e-cigarettes and related products banned by the Ministry of Health (MOH) must be jointly regulated and controlled.
The MOH announced that the use of e-cigarettes and related products will be banned starting February 18 due to the high risk of harm to public health and the need to control their increasing popularity, especially among young people.
Therefore, the import, export, sale, storage, distribution, and use of e-cigarettes (vapes) in Myanmar has been banned by the MOH.
“There is no sense that vaping and e-cigarettes are effective tools for quitting smoking. No doctor recommends them. They just use themselves. They do it for fun, but the nicotine level included in these tools is the same. Although they are nicotine-free, they are addictive and can cause health problems. That is why the Ministry of Health has banned them,” said a person close to the medical community.
Currently, after the MOH’s announcement, e-cigarette (vape) shops in Yangon and other cities, including Mandalay, have been abruptly closed, but there are reports that online sales are still ongoing.
“Our shop has now stopped selling vapes and related products. We are now doing bouquets and blind boxes services, so we are focusing more on that. We are no longer selling vapes,” a seller at an e-cigarette shop in Yangon told The Statesman.
Therefore, the above source said that in order to control the continued sale of the above prohibited goods online, the Ministry of Health and the Department of Consumer Affairs need to work together to control them.
“We don’t see that on the ground anymore. The issue of online sales cannot be controlled by the Ministry of Health alone. The online issue has also come under the purview of Department of Consumer Affairs (DOCA). There is a law on sales in DOCA. There are guidelines. They have to cooperate and control it. This is part of it,” the source said.
E-cigarettes (vapes) contain more than six potentially harmful ingredients, including nicotine, flavorings, and carcinogens. They are not just inhaling vapor; they are also full of toxic chemicals.
Therefore, a doctor pointed out that it may take about three years to make people aware of the harmful effects of these products and encourage them to stop using them, before any meaningful behavioral change can be considered successful.
“The next thing is the people who use it. People who use it need to know the poor health effects of this. We need to educate them to know. But it can take at least two to three years to change a person’s behavior. So, if you want to dig a well now and drink clean water at once, you can’t. Now the decree has been issued. If it disappears in the next three years, we can say that we have succeeded. It will be very difficult for this to happen immediately,” said a doctor. –