The Maldives became the first country to impose a multigenerational smoking ban, making it illegal for anyone born after January 1, 2007 to smoke, buy or sell tobacco.
The ban came into effect in the South Asian archipelago on Saturday and “marks a historic milestone in the country’s efforts to protect public health and promote a tobacco-free generation,” the country’s health ministry said.
With this measure, the Maldives will become “the first country in the world to implement an all-generation tobacco ban,” it added.
According to the World Health Organization, smoking kills more than 7 million people worldwide each year. According to a national survey, more than a quarter of Maldives’ adult population (15-69 years old) uses tobacco as of 2021. Among teens ages 13 to 15, the rate was nearly double.
By comparison, in 2022, nearly 20% of adults in the United States used tobacco, and in 2023, nearly 12% of adults in the United Kingdom were smokers.
The Maldives is the first country to enact such a ban, but similar proposals have been discussed and nearly enforced in other parts of the world.
New Zealand was close to imposing a similar policy in 2022. The government has passed one of the world’s leading anti-smoking laws, banning the sale of cigarettes to people born after January 1, 2009.
However, the ban, which was scheduled to take effect in 2024, never materialized. Just a year after the bill was passed, it was withdrawn to pay for the tax cuts, infuriating public health officials and anti-tobacco groups.
Similar legislation was proposed in the UK in recent years, but it was not passed. A new version is currently moving through Congress. The bill would ban tobacco for people born after January 1, 2009, and tighten regulations on the sale of tobacco and e-cigarette products.
A number of UK health leaders signed an open letter last week calling for the bill to be passed, denouncing previous delays in the process. More than 120,000 young people have started smoking in the six months since the bill was last debated in parliament, according to a letter signed by leaders of major hospitals, cancer charities and NHS branches.
Maldives’ ban is just the latest in the country’s long-standing efforts to crack down on tobacco and smoking, including e-cigarettes.
The government has banned the import, possession, use, manufacture and distribution of all e-cigarettes in the Maldives by the end of 2024, regardless of age.
Authorities now hope to reduce smoking everywhere across the archipelago and are planning to set up smoking cessation clinics that will provide medication to help people quit tobacco products.
Earlier this summer, the president even offered cash incentives to island residents who went completely smoke-free.
