Non-governmental organisations across the country are calling for a comprehensive set of rules to regulate all tobacco products including electronic cigarettes.
Organisations like the South African Medical Research Council and the Cancer Association of South Africa among others have backed the Tobacco Control Bill now before parliament.
The bill seeks to regulate the sale of tobacco products in the country and protect children in particular from smoking e-cigarettes.
National Manager for Health Promotion at the CANSA Association Lorraine Govender says, “Currently, the bill is with parliament. We are waiting for approval from government, in terms of the processes to follow from there. Some of the measures include 100% smoke-free public spaces and the regulation of e-cigarettes. Currently, it is unregulated and we are extremely concerned about that. So our ask is for the bill to control e-cigarettes in the same way as tobacco products.”
