Rehab push to address youth vaping

The Public Health Ministry is looking to rehabilitate 20,000 young vape users as part of its measures to suppress the spread of e-cigarettes, Minister Somsak Thepsutin said.
Mr Somsak’s statement was a response to concerns raised by Senator Premsak Piayura during Monday’s Senate meeting about the widespread use of e-cigarettes among teenagers and the government’s control measures on the matter.
Mr Somsak said his ministry is focused on providing all-inclusive rehabilitation for young vapers and aims to bring 20,000 smokers into the nation’s rehabilitation system through hospital screenings.
Mr Premsak cited a National Statistical Office report that in 2021, at least 80,000 people aged 15 and over were e-cigarette users.
A report from the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) also showed that 1,189 (or 17.6%) of 6,752 Thai youths aged 13-15 participating in its 2022 survey were vape users. The figure was 5.3 times higher than that recorded by the CDC in 2015.
Mr Somsak said the issue of e-cigarettes among minors is one of the Public Health Ministry’s urgent policies for this fiscal year.
He said the ministry has launched a framework to help battle the spread of e-cigarettes, which includes monitoring and enforcing related laws, strengthening cooperation between partners, enhancing policies and control measures, and raising awareness of the harm of vaping.
In May, the National Tobacco Product Control Committee and the Department of Disease Control established an integrated workforce to suppress and enforce laws regarding e-cigarettes.
Mr Somsak said the workforce has since seized more than 60,000 vaping devices and liquids worth 18 million baht in total.
He added that the ministry has emphasised improving measures to promote good health among teens and preventing young people from using vapes.