Middle East Vape Lies
UAE doctors make up facts while the cost of vaping soars in Iran.
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by Dave Cross
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“Don’t be fooled by e-cigarettes,” states Doctor Georgey Koshy, the chief medical officer at the Universal Hospital in Abu Dhabi. “There is no real research conducted to prove the devices are safe alternatives to smoking regular cigarettes. There are many brands available out there, so there is no standardisation on e-cigarettes.”
The choice of language is precise, the objective is clear – to undermine the potential for a tool for harm reduction gaining a foothold in territory where Big Pharma has planted its flag. It’s a corruption of science and a demonstration that several years of university education is no guarantee of honesty.
“Some researchers claim that e-cigarettes are up to 95 per cent safer than regular cigarettes, yet there are no proper studies to compare the two methods. It attracts fresh smokers who have never ever smoked cigarettes in their lives. Non-smokers believe e-cigarettes are safe and begin smoking vapes, but eventually move on to traditional cigarettes.”
The lies drip from his tongue as smokers continue to die from the combustion products of their habit. Doctor Jairam Aithal, a consultant in cardiovascular disease at Abu Dhabi’s Burjeel Hospital, shows that he too can fib with the best of them: “For sure, e-cigarettes are just as harmful as regular cigarettes. E-cigarette manufacturers are simply packaging the dangerous ingredients in another form, which is just as harmful as traditional cigarettes. There are also secondary health risks to people who are not smoking e-cigarettes, but are around the smoker.”
It’s stunning that these men managed to qualify as medical practitioners; in 2003 Aithal was awarded the President of India Gold Medal for overall academic and general proficiency - honesty and integrity were clearly not a part of the assessment rubric.
In Iran, only one study looking at vaping has been conducted. This took place last year and focussed on assessing foreign published papers. This poor review discovered that 65% of published papers do not support vaping as a form of tobacco harm reduction (THR). It also led the research team to conclude that almost 47% of studies stated vaping is not effective in preventing smoking.
Iranian health groups say that citizens smoke 65-billion cigarettes each year, killing 60,000 people, but generating $2.8-billion. Maybe it is this final figure (more than research facts) that prompted of Iran’s prestigious centres of higher learning to conclude that vaping is harmful and pushed to have it banned as an alternative to smoking tobacco cigarettes.
Rodu and Nitzkin recently spoke at length on the benefits of smokeless tobacco and the importance of honest messages: “The Swedish experience exemplifies harm reduction: consumers making rational choices to use smokeless instead of cigarettes, based on accurate perceptions and preferences. The 40-50 million Americans who consume tobacco deserve truthful information from government and health organizations about vastly safer smokeless tobacco, e-cigarettes, and vapor. Millions of them could make the switch from combustible to smoke-free and lead longer and healthier lives.”
It is clear that it’s not just American smokers who could benefit from some truthful information.
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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