29.05.14
WHO told to resist urge to ‘control’ e-cigarettes
A letter signed by more than 50 public health specialists in the UK has urged the World Health Organisation (WHO) to resist the urge to “control and suppress” e-cigarettes.
The plea comes as the global health adviser is preparing to publish global guidelines on the devices. But the letter says the devices - which deliver nicotine in a vapour - could be a “health innovation”.
The open letter has been organised in the run-up to significant international negotiations on tobacco policy this year. Among those to sign the letter are experts who have advised the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on its guidelines about reducing the harm from tobacco.
The letter, seen by the BBC, said: “These products could be among the most significant health innovations of the 21st Century - perhaps saving hundreds of millions of lives.
“If regulators treat low-risk nicotine products as traditional tobacco products... they are improperly defining them as part of the problem.
“Regulators should avoid support for measures that could have the perverse effect of prolonging cigarette consumption.”
Rosanna O’Connor, director of Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco at Public Health England, told NHE that balanced and effective regulation of e-cigarettes as medicines can manage the risks and maximise the potential for these products to replace smoking.
“Increasing numbers of smokers are turning to e-cigarettes as an aid to quitting or cutting down. We will continue to monitor the developing evidence,” she said.
A WHO spokesman added that the global health adviser is currently working on recommendations for governments on the regulation and marketing of e-cigarettes and similar devices. It is also working with national regulatory bodies to look at regulatory options, as well as toxicology experts, to understand more about the possible impact of e-cigarettes and similar devices on health.
The Department of Health told NHE that although e-cigarettes are not risk free, they carry a lower risk to health than smoking tobacco and may help people who want to stop smoking.
“Any e-cigarette products that are licensed as medicines can be made available on the NHS. We will continue to closely monitor all emerging research,” said a DH spokesperson.
However, the British Medical Association (BMA) has called for stronger regulation of the devices in the UK.
Dr Vivienne Nathanson, the BMA's director of professional activities, told BBC Breakfast there was evidence that children who had never smoked were starting to use e-cigarettes, having been influenced by marketing campaigns.
“Rather like cigarettes in the 50s and 60s, we really need to look at that and, I believe, ban it (advertising), to stop them advertising in a way that attracts children,” she added.
(Image: c. Torin Halsey)
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