23 February 2026
Myanmar has become the latest country in the ASEAN to ban e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. With this move, Myanmar joins the majority countries, eight out of eleven in the region, in protecting youth and public from nicotine addiction, leaving Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines behind as the outliers.
Complete ban on use, sales, manufacture, import and export are enforced in Brunei, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam (effective from 2025). Myanmar’s ban came into force on 18 February 2026.
Malaysia’s national legislation reclassified vaping products alongside tobacco and they are now in transition towards a full ban by mid-2026 in a move to protect youth.
This trend reflects the 46 countries and jurisdictions worldwide who have banned recreational smoking devices, reinforcing a public health priority to curb nicotine addiction and prevent regulatory loopholes.
Youth Vaping – Growing epidemic where there is regulation instead of a ban
In countries where only restrictions are in place instead of a comprehensive ban, evidence shows more pervasive youth vaping and easier access to products:
Regulations: A 2023 systematic review across South East Asia reported adolescent e-cigarette use ranging up to 11.8% in Indonesia, the Philippines with about 14% among 13-15-year-olds and Malaysia showing up to around 9% current use.
Bans: By contrast, countries with strict bans like Thailand have much lower reported current use (around 3.3% in one study) and preliminary analysis indicates the ban may have helped curb prevalence over time.
Proliferation of Vape Products and Regulatory Gaps
Regulators in Indonesia and the Philippines are facing challenges to control vape products. Rapid product diversification and internet sales make enforcement challenging, particularly in low-resource settings where customs, online surveillance and youth protection systems are limited. Industry tactics — including social media promotion and youth-targeted advertising — further entrench nicotine use among teens, undermining public health measures enacted for cigarettes.
Flavours, are known to be a key factor attracting youth experimentation globally, prompting the WHO to call for flavour bans and tighter regulation. WHO has estimated there aremore than 16,000 different flavoured e-liquids available worldwide, many of which are promoted through online channels that evade local age-verification and marketing restrictions.
Public health implications and financial costs
The public health burden of vaping — evidence continues to develop — mirrors well-documented harms of nicotine and inhalational toxicity:
- Nicotine is a poison and a highly addictive neurotoxin that affects the developing brain in adolescents, contributing to addiction, cognitive impairment and increased susceptibility to other substance use.
- Acute harms such as nicotine poisoning, lung injury, seizures and respiratory distress have been observed globally among e-cigarette users, especially among youth and inexperienced users.
Globally, some jurisdictions classify nicotine and nicotine products as toxic or poisonous substances. Countries including Australia, the Czech Republic and previously Malaysia have formally classified nicotine-containing e-liquids under poison or toxic substance laws to control their distribution and sales. Malaysia, in 2023, under pressure from industry lobby, declassified nicotine liquid and gel as class c poison from the Poison Act.
This classification reflects recognition that nicotine — beyond its addictive potential — poses systemic toxic effects, particularly in young children and adolescents with accidental ingestion or chronic inhalation.
These individual health effects translate into significant health system costs for the country. For example, health services globally manage increasing numbers of adolescents with vaping-related lung injury and nicotine poisoning, often requiring hospitalisation, specialist care and rehabilitative services. While precise ASEAN spending estimates are scarce, a cursory estimation suggests millions in direct healthcare costs annually in populations with high youth use.
In Malaysia, public health discussions estimate annual treatment costs for vaping-related lung injuries could exceed US$80 million by 2030. The Ministry of Health has estimated it costs more than RM150,000 (US$38,600) to treat an individual suffering from e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injuries (Evali).
Beyond healthcare costs, economic losses also emanate from lost productivity due to addiction, school absenteeism, and long-term chronic disease, exacerbating pressure on economies already burdened with high percentages of tobacco use.
Singapore’s Health Minister, Ong Ye Kung, commenting on their country’s ban on e-cigarettes, also warned that the devices pose a dangerous gateway to nicotine addiction among young people. He has called on the “Asean, as a region, can move collectively in this direction,” to ban e-cigarettes.
Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia have a clear pathway to exercise political will and address the vaping epidemic, and catch-up with the rest of ASEAN.
References
- ASEAN Now.
Myanmar bans e-cigarettes amid regional crackdowns.
https://aseannow.com/topic/1387967-myanmar-bans-e-cigarettes-amid-regional-crackdowns/ - World Health Organization (WHO).
Protecting youth: Viet Nam must keep its comprehensive ban on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.
https://www.who.int/vietnam/news/commentaries/detail/protecting-youth–viet-nam-must-keep-its-comprehensive-ban-on-e-cigarettes-and-heated-tobacco-products–says-world-health-organization - World Health Organization (WHO).
First anniversary: Only comprehensive ban can protect Vietnamese youth against new tobacco product harms.
https://www.who.int/vietnam/news/detail/24-11-2025-first-anniversary–only-comprehensive-ban-can-protect-vietnamese-youth-against-new-tobacco-product-harms - Aziemah et al. (2023).
Prevalence of e-cigarette use among adolescents in Southeast Asia: A systematic review.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10001692/ - WHO Philippines.
WHO calls for urgent action to ban flavoured tobacco and nicotine products.
https://www.who.int/philippines/news/detail-global/30-05-2025-who-calls-for-urgent-action-to-ban-flavoured-tobacco-and-nicotine-products - ASEAN Tobacco Control Atlas (SEATCA).
New and emerging tobacco products in ASEAN.
https://aseantobaccocontrolatlas.org/v6/chapter-two.html - Banks et al. (2022).
Electronic cigarettes and health outcomes: Systematic review of global evidence.
National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia).
https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/attachments/Electronic%20cigarettes%20health%20outcomes%20-%20systematic%20review%20of%20global%20evidence.pdf
Note: This article was written with AI assistance
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