NEWS
World Health
Organization accused of
“historic hostility” to low
risk smoking alternatives
Canada calls for transparency as WHO shields
tobacco conference from public view
By Gordon Stribling
Canadian delegates were praised for making a stand for
transparency after journalists and the public were removed from
a World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control (FCTC) conference in Geneva.
The eighth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP8)
brought together representatives from around the world
to discuss “the future of tobacco control on the road to a
healthier and sustainable world.”
Citing concerns about tobacco industry interference, delegates
voted to remove journalists and members of the public from the
proceedings and plans to livestream the event were scrapped.
Canada was the only country to oppose the motion.
The Association of Vapers India (AVI) said: “Canada was told to be
‘flexible’ on the question of banning the public. Canada stuck its
ground for transparency. One nation went beyond fear of tobacco
industry interference to give people their right to know.”
The International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organisations
(INNCO) were refused observer status, leading to heated debate
on social media between tobacco controllers and harm reduction
advocates.
The WHO has also faced criticism for its refusal to encourage
member states to promote harm reduction as part of their tobacco
control policies.
The FCTC’s own definition of ‘tobacco control’ includes “harm
reduction strategies that aim to improve the health of a population by
eliminating or reducing their consumption of tobacco products and
exposure to tobacco smoke.”
The WHO itself has come under criticism for not doing enough to
“The WHO ignores its own
treaty … This is a tragic missed
opportunity to stop one billion
lives being claimed by smoking
this century.”
encourage harm reduction measures on a global scale.
Most recently the authors of a new report on the global state of
tobacco harm reduction accused the WHO of displaying a, “historic
hostility to lower risk alternatives to smoking such as e-cigarettes
and heated tobacco products.”
Professor Gerry Stimson of London-based Knowledge Action Change,
which commissioned the No Fire, No Smoke report said:
“The WHO ignores its own treaty that obliges signatories to adopt the
harm-reduction approach of encouraging safer nicotine products.
This is a tragic missed opportunity to stop one billion lives being
claimed by smoking this century.”
The report lists the 39 countries where e-cigarettes or nicotine liquids
are banned, including Australia, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia.
“In examining the data, it has been striking how closely tied the
availability of these substitutes is to plunging smoking rates. Whatever
the motivation for countries banning them, they need to realize that
such policies make them the tobacco industry’s best friends,” said
Harry Shapiro, the lead author of the report.
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