Reviewing Enforcement Measures on Users and Sellers of Vaporisers and Related Consumables

16 Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong asked the Minister for Health whether there will be a review of the enforcement measures on vaping users and sellers of vaporisers and consumables.

17 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Health (a) whether the Ministry considers the outright ban on vaporisers since 1 February 2018 to be effective in combating the growing popularity of vaping and e-cigarettes; and (b) what are the causes for the continued rise in the vaping trend in Singapore over the last three years.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health (Ms Rahayu Mahzam) (for the Minister for Health): Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to answer Question Nos 16 and 17 in today's Order Paper together?

Mr Speaker: Yes, please.

Ms Rahayu Mahzam: The harms relating to e-vaporisers are clear and Ministry of Health (MOH) takes a multi-pronged approach to curb the illicit sales and use. The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) oversees enforcements and works closely with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in relation to illegal imports of e-vaporisers. In schools, MOH and the Health Promotion Board (HPB) work with the Ministry of Education to raise awareness about the harms of vaping and encourage children and youths to lead a nicotine-free lifestyle. Schools take a serious view of vaping.

However, we have seen a worrying trend in the increasing use of e-vaporisers both locally and globally which could be attributed to the packaging and the variety of attractive flavours and scents and the easy access to e-vaporisers through e-commerce. There are also common misconceptions regarding the harm of e-vaporisers.

MOH is closely monitoring the use of e-vaporisers and reviewing the strategy against vaping. We will work with our partners to strengthen both enforcement and education measures to curb e-vaporiser use.

Mr Speaker: Mr Shawn Huang.

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong (Jurong): I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the answer. I have several concerned residents and parents and despite the current efforts – education, outreach, enforcements – there is still an upward trajectory. So, I would like to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary what more can be done to reverse this trend and if you have done sufficient – given enough effort to reach out to our youths, to educate them on the adverse effects?

Ms Rahayu Mahzam: I thank Member for his question. Indeed, it is a problem that we are also very concerned about, which is why we are working very closely with the different partners at different parts of the equation. Upstream, HSA is looking at enforcement, looking at the online social media spaces, we are looking also – sorry, at the social media platforms. We are working with ICA to stop the illegal imports and with schools, HPB is also working in educating students about the harms of vaping. So, this is an ongoing review that we are looking at.

There is a larger effort in looking at the tobacco control measures. This is something that we probably have to take multi-faceted approach and also to walk together with the public. This awareness is something that we have to push through a lot more. There is a lot of misconceptions about the vaping being, perhaps, less harmful. It is actually a starter product that actually opens up doors to tobacco consumption and smoking and we need to have a harder push but we need efforts from all fronts – from parents, from teachers, from schools, from the community to encourage this effort. We are also rolling out a digital vape-free campaign and we are also hoping to get support from the community on this.

Hopefully, with all these efforts, we will be able to build greater awareness and create better enforcement so that we can reduce the incidence of vaping amongst our young.