South Africa’s Proposed Tobacco and Vaping Regulations

The proposed tobacco bill would include bans on vaping and smoking in certain public spaces. “It’s a health reason. You don’t want to expose people to second hand and third-hand smoke. It’s just a public health risk,” said Peter Ucko, CEO of the Tobacco, Alcohol and Gambling Advisory, Advocacy and Action Group, adding, “Let’s call a spade a spade and not a shovel. It’s not just a cloud of smoke, it’s a dense cloud of toxic chemicals that are dangerous to public health.”

 

However, in line with arguments by public health experts from around the world, co-founder of the Africa Harm Reduction Alliance Dr Kgosi Letlape says that  vaping should not be banned. “In other markets like the UK, vaping is considered to be useful and they are advocating for the e-cigarette to be prescribed by doctors to smokers who can’t quit,” rightly pointed out Letlape. In fact since promoting the devices as smoking cessation tools, the UK is renowned for boasting the second lowest smoking rates within Europe, and the lowest ever recorded locally.

Plain packaging for cigarettes

The new tobacco bill also includes a proposal for plain cigarette packaging, which would result in all cigarette packs carrying only brand names and health warnings. Such a regulation has now been successfully implemented in a number of countries. The Ministry of Health and Welfare of South Korea enforced this regulation in January 2017, and after only two months, smoking-cessation clinics all across the country witnessed a two-fold increase in callers.

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