There are in excess of 100 million smokers in India and 13% of the 720,000 annual premature deaths in India are tobacco-related.
Prior to release, Association Vape India said: “We know the science is tainted if the government has to be consulted before publishing it. Obviously they'll only allow what suits their agenda.”
The men responsible for this absolute disgrace are listed below, laughably referring to themselves as the “Expert Committee”:
- K.S. Reddy - Public Health Foundation of India
- P. Sivaperuamal - ICMR-National Institute of Occupational Health
- Prashant Mathur - ICMR-National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research
- Rakesh Kapoor, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research
- Shiv Choudhary - All India Institute of Medical Sciences
- G.C. Khilani - All India Institute of Medical Sciences
- Sanjay Rai - All India Institute of Medical Sciences
- G.K. Rath - All India Institute of Medical Sciences
- Ambuj Roy - All India Institute of Medical Sciences
- L. Swasticharan - Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
- S.C. Khurana - Food Safety & Standards Authority of India
- Ravi Mehrotra - ICMR-National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research
The ICMR White Paper On Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS) claims to have studied around 100 research papers, looking for the “pros and cons” of vaping.
In the white paper, they write:
- There is a teen epidemic in America and Poland
- Vapers are “unaware of the actual contents of the products they use”
- Vaping releases “potential carcinogens – which includes acetaldehyde, formaldehyde and acetone”
- Eliquids contain toxic chemicals and metals that cause “cancers and diseases of the heart, lungs and brain”
- “E-cigarette use adversely affects the cardiovascular system, impairs respiratory, immune cell function and airways in a way similar to cigarette smoking”
- Flavours “adversely affect the health of the users due to their cytotoxic effect”
- If diethylene glycol is used instead of propylene glycol it will cause “mass poisonings and deaths”
- “Second-hand vapours” cause adverse health impacts
- Vaping leads to smoking
- The public doesn’t know about the harmful effects of vaping
- Vaping doesn’t help people quit smoking
- Teens are targeted by vape companies
- The tobacco industry is controlling the vape industry
- The UK regulates vaping as medicines
- Vaping is highly addictive
None of the above is true, and it is risible that the committee couldn’t even bother to fact check how the United Kingdom regulates vaping.
They conclude: “The adverse population-level health impact will outweigh any presumed benefit to individual cigarette smokers.”
“Based on the currently available scientific data from multiple streams of research, the Council recommends complete prohibition on ENDS or e-cigarettes in India in the greater interest of protecting public health, in accordance with the precautionary principle preventing public harm from a noxious agent.”
This paper didn’t review all of the available evidence, is cherry picked the information from the extreme elements in the United States and regurgitated nonsense from the World Health Organisation; it took to misinformation like a dog rolling in excrement.
The Indian Council of Medical Research has been willingly, intentionally dishonest, and has produced a corrupt, unprincipled and dishonourable piece of work. The Indian government needs to distance itself from this sham as a matter of urgency, for the sake of the 100 million lives at stake.
Resources:
- ICMR White Paper On Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS) - [link]
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave 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.
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