Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: THE Maldives has become the first country in the world to impose a “generational” ban on smoking, preventing individuals born on or after January 2007 from purchasing, using or selling tobacco in all its forms, according to a media report. The Maldivian health ministry called the move a “historic milestone in the nation’s efforts to protect public health and promote a tobacco-free generation.”
The ban on individuals born on or after January 2007 purchasing, using or selling tobacco in all its forms was enacted through the Second Amendment to the Tobacco Control Act ratified by President Mohamed Muizzu. The South Asian island nation also maintains a comprehensive ban on the import, sale, distribution, possession, and use of electronic cigarettes and vaping products, applicable to all individuals regardless of age.
According to WHO data, in 2024, about 25.5 per cent of the Maldivian population between the ages of 15 to 69 years were tobacco users. Among males the share stood at 41.7 per cent, and females it was 9.3 per cent.