IEVA Addresses COP9
The Independent European Vape Alliance tells COP9 delegates that tobacco harm reduction is critical if we are to reduce smoking related disease rates worldwide
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by Dave Cross
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“As a European association that is independent of the tobacco industry, we would like the WHO, together with other representatives from politics and science, to develop a targeted strategy for reducing the damage caused by smoking. Of course, we as an industry are ready for this critical dialogue” said Dustin Dahlmann, President of IEVA.
IEVA says it is the only pan-European association aimed at uniting national associations, companies, manufacturers, and wholesalers in the vaping industry and providing them with responsible representation at the European level. IEVA’s founding principle is to contribute to harm reduction and public health and believes that e-cigarettes have a significant positive impact and should be recognised as a harm reduction tool because vaping is not smoking.
Unfortunately, IEVA states, the WHO has lost sight of this in recent years: “But it is not too late to repent. It must focus on the future of millions of smokers worldwide – a future that is much brighter should they switch to vaping – rather than its own counter-productive ‘quit or die’ dogma.”
The ninth conference on tobacco control of the WHO COP9 starts in Geneva this week. During this important conference, measures to reduce the global smoking rate will be debated.
The WHO wrote in a publication a year ago: "There is conclusive evidence that: completely substituting [vaping] for combustible tobacco cigarettes reduces users’ exposure to numerous toxicants and carcinogens present in combustible tobacco cigarettes."
Now it is important to put this correct assessment into practice.
Similar demands have been made by leading scientists in this field. On October 18, 100 international health experts sent a public letter to the COP9 parties.
Their view was clear: “100 specialists in nicotine science, policy and practice have come together to call on the 182 parties (countries) to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to take a more positive stance on tobacco harm reduction.”
References:
- WHO 2021: Tobacco key facts - https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco
- Public Health England 2018: E-cigarettes are 95 per cent less harmful than tobacco cigarettes - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/684963/Evidence_review_of_e-cigarettes_and_heated_tobacco_products_2018.pdf
- COP9/ FCTC Geneva 2021 - https://fctc.who.int/
- WHO 2020: Electronic nicotine and non-nicotine delivery systems - https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/443673/Electronic-nicotine-and-non-nicotine-delivery-systems-brief-eng.pdf
- 18 October 2021: Letter to the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control - https://clivebates.com/one-hundred-specialists-call-for-who-to-change-stance-on-tobacco-harm-reduction/
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous vape companies to develop content for their websites.
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