UKVIA Says WHO Risks Becoming an "Enemy of Harm Reduction" With Vaping Stance
The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has warned the World Health Organization that it risks being labelled an "enemy of harm-reduction" if what it called the WHO's inaccurate and unscientific treatment of vaping continues, saying the organization is increasingly out of touch with the public-health evidence on e-cigarettes.
In stark language, the UKVIA questioned the WHO's credibility in judging the public health potential of vaping. It pointed to recent recommendations by the WHO study group on Tobacco Product Regulations that would prohibit electronic nicotine and non-nicotine delivery systems where the user can control device features and liquid ingredients — a category that covers much of the open-system hardware sold in the UK and EU.
The WHO has also called for bans on vaping systems with a higher "abuse liability" than conventional cigarettes, for example by regulating the emission rate or flux of nicotine, a criterion the UKVIA argues is poorly defined and difficult to apply consistently.
John Dunne, director general of the UKVIA, said the WHO poses a real threat to smoking cessation and harm reduction. In remarks that reference the COP9 summit and Public Health England's 2021 evidence review — indicating the statements date from that period — Dunne said certain WHO positions are "so out of date, and so thoroughly refuted by the experts, that they may as well be saying the earth is flat," and said the WHO deviates dramatically from leading experts including Public Health England and Action on Smoking and Health.
Citing the evidence on cessation, Dunne noted that as early as 2019 clinical trials were finding vaping to be almost twice as effective as nicotine replacement therapy, against the WHO's position that there is "little evidence" vaping helps people quit smoking.
The exchange matters because the WHO's positions feed directly into global rulemaking: the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control's technical guidelines and the recommendations reaching national regulators inform how countries from the EU to Southeast Asia tax and restrict vaping products. The UKVIA, whose members include manufacturers and retailers operating in one of the world's most permissive large markets for vaping, argues that a WHO which treats e-cigarettes like cigarettes will cost smokers switching opportunities worldwide.
The association called on the WHO to adopt a more objective perspective, aligning its guidance with the growing body of clinical evidence on reduced-risk products rather than treating all nicotine delivery systems alike.
[Reference]
- Vape Business (original report) — https://www.vapebusiness.biz/world-health-organization-becoming-an-enemy-of-harm-reduction-warns-ukvia/
- UKVIA, WHO risks becoming an enemy of harm-reduction — https://ukvia.co.uk/who-risks-becoming-an-enemy-of-harm-reduction/