WHO, the World Health Organisation has been sent a collective letter from 53 public health academics from 15 different countries, calling to avoid regulating e-cigarettes the same as tobacco. The letter was sent to the organisation’s director, Dr. Margaret Chan, advising that electronic cigarettes will suffer from similar regulations and high taxes as tobacco.
Last month, the Financial Times had revealed information from leaked documents, that the WHO was covertly attempting to classify e-cigs under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This would cause a global shift in government regulations such public bans, taxes, limited advertising outlets, ultimately imposing the same costs and limitations of tobacco products. The treaty also forces governments to reduce smoking rates, in this case they would be forced to reduce e-cigarette sales.
This would be terribly unfortunate, as it would possibly bring costs to be the same or higher than analogue tobacco cigarettes. The effect would most likely curtail the sale of smokeless electronic cigarettes pushing tobacco sales and smoking rates back up.
Public health opinion has been divided over the long term safety of e-cigs, but many important anti-tobacco figures have already expressed the risk of choking the technological innovation of vaporizers by putting them on the same boat as tobacco. While other critics claim it will cause a rise in tobacco usage even attempting to instill fear by warning of a possible epidemic. As the debate continues, the WHO is already scheduled to make a decision next October following a meeting set in Moscow.
The 53 health scientists took a stance for e-cigarettes and clearly stating that they are part of the solution, and certainly not the problem. Gerry Stimson, one of the signees advised the WHO against their decision and putting at risk one of the biggest health innovations seen in the last 30 years.
It becomes harder to sway the organization due to the rise of Tobacco companies joining in and developing their own lines of e-cigs. Public health groups are not keen on welcoming big Tobacco into the market, arguing of possible ulterior motives to keep users smoking tobacco instead. In just five years, the e-cigarette market has globally grown to be over $3 billion dollars.
It is certainly necessary that some regulations and safety rules be applied, but to classify them as tobacco would almost certainly have a negative outcome, making it more difficult for smokers to find a safe and cost effective alternative. Choking the growth of technological advancement would halt any new breakthroughs that would further help reduce smoking rates. With that said, it is a breath of fresh air to see powerful voices uniting to push for better oversight.