WHO Reporting Condemned

Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of CAPHRA, told Planet of the Vapes: “Two years of silence from WHO on global tobacco trends is two years of missed opportunities to save lives. Their 2023 report deliberately sidelined peer-reviewed evidence on safer nicotine alternatives, prioritising ideology over science. With the next report expected in July 2025, we demand WHO end this dangerous negligence and finally acknowledge solutions that could prevent millions of smoking-related deaths.” 

The WHO’s 2023 report faced criticism for dismissing reduced-risk products like vaping and heated tobacco devices, despite their proven role in helping smokers quit lethal combustible cigarettes. CAPHRA’s independent 2023 Shadow Report exposed how WHO’s abstinence-only approach has exacerbated health inequalities and left 600 million smokers in the region without safer alternatives. 

Loucas noted the human cost of this intransigence: “While WHO bureaucrats recycle outdated tactics, 1.3 million people in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific die annually from smoking-related illnesses. These are preventable tragedies, not inevitable statistics. The 2025 report must abandon moral posturing and embrace evidence-based strategies that actually work.” 

CAPHRA’s analysis highlights stark disparities in tobacco policies. New Zealand, having achieved its Smokefree 2025 goal ahead of schedule with smoking rates dropping below 5% across all groups, demonstrates the success of harm reduction strategies. Conversely, countries adhering to WHO’s prohibitionist stance, like India and Thailand, maintain smoking rates above 20% while battling rampant illicit tobacco markets. 

Loucas continued: “WHO’s upcoming report is a litmus test for its commitment to public health. Will they finally recognise that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking, as concluded by Public Health England? Or continue peddling the fiction that nicotine patches and cold turkey are the only acceptable solutions?” 

Loucas stressed that without a shift towards evidence-based policies, WHO risks further eroding its credibility amid growing scrutiny of its governance. 

Nancy Loucas concluded: “Health leadership requires intellectual honesty. As WHO prepares its 2025 report, we urge officials to consult independent scientists rather than anti-nicotine activists. Millions of lives depend on their willingness to confront reality.” 

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Advocates is a regional alliance of consumer tobacco harm reduction advocacy organisations.  CAPHRA states it is not related to or funded by any commercial interests. 

The organisation says it is composed of volunteer consumer advocates from the Asia Pacific Region, adding: “We hope putting forward this information would clarify any doubt as to our interests and intentions. CAPHRA stays committed to its mission to educate, advocate and represent the right of adult alternative nicotine consumers to access and use of products that reduce harm from tobacco use.  We advocate for the rights of consumers in the Asia-Pacific region to access and use evidence-based, regulated, and properly marketed harm reduction products as a means of reducing the devastating impact of smoking-related diseases.”

References:

• Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates - https://caphraorg.net/ 
• https://www.caphraorg.net/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/2025-response_to_UNSR_THR-final.pdf

Dave Cross

Journalist at POTV

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Dave 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 start-ups to develop content for their websites.