World No Tobacco Day should be an opportunity to promote vaping, not attack it

Amsterdam: While smoking prevalence is falling in most Western countries, many continue to choose to smoke cigarettes, including 17% of Americans, 19% of Britons, 24% of Italians and 28% of French people.

Yet, as the World Health Organisation celebrates World No Tobacco Day, it continues to push its anti-vaping agenda, ignoring the scientific consensus that e-cigarettes offer a potent tool in the fight against tobacco.

It is estimated that 7 out of 10 Americans try to quit smoking every year, while more than a third of British smokers try to quit every year. Some, of course, do succeed – either on their own or in combination with tools like nicotine replacement treatment – but many do not. Yet thanks to electronic cigarettes, smokers now have an alternative: a product that successfully mimics the smoking experience but is 95% less harmful, according to Public Health England, the Royal College of Physicians, and other leading health experts. Initial statistics are promising: the number of people switching entirely from smoking to vaping is on the rise, with nearly 50% of all vapers are now saying they are ‘ex-smokers’ according to British anti-tobacco organisation Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).

Fontem Ventures welcomes the growing public health consensus around vaping, but regrets that many public bodies – and indeed the World Health Organization (WHO) itself – fail to promote take-up of e-cigarettes by smokers as a less harmful alternative to tobacco.

“The body of scientific evidence in favour of e-cigarettes is growing,” said Marc Michelsen, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Communications. “Yet the EU Tobacco Products Directive and the FDA Deeming Regulations in the United States have both placed restrictions on vaping products that sends mixed messages to smokers, suggesting they are no better than tobacco. This is wrong.”

“Worse still, Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General, last year called on all Governments to ban e-cigarettes. In advance of the upcoming Framework Convention on Tobacco Control conference (COP7) in New Delhi this autumn, citizens and governments need to stand up for vaping and support its growth as an effective tool in tobacco control strategies. We need to support e-cigarettes, not ban them.”