IEVA Responds In Measured Fashion
The Independent European Vape Alliance has responded in a different fashion to the EU ‘Beating Cancer Plan’, saying it “welcomes and supports” it
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by Dave Cross
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IEVA acknowledges that almost one third of cancer cases in Europe are caused by smoking: “Tobacco consumption continues to be the leading cause of preventable cancer, with 27% of all cancers attributed to tobacco use. By eliminating tobacco use, nine out every ten cases of lung cancer could be avoided.”
The organisation this makes it “more important than ever” to use all means at hand to minimize smoking rates. “Tobacco harm reduction is rated as a very good opportunity to significantly reduce the number of smokers. That is why it has to be included in an impactful EU Beating Cancer plan”
Professor Heino Stöver from the German Institute for Addiction Research at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences commented: “Once again, the EU Commission is focusing on the obsolete ‘Quit or Die’ approach when it comes to tobacco cessation, instead of designing a reality-based addiction policy. The UK, New Zealand and Canada are using e-cigarettes as a key tool in the fight against tobacco use and are more successful than the EU with its outdated approach.”
IEVA says that the cancer potency of vaping is around 0.5% that of smoking. It adds that we (the UK) stand as an example to Europe in that by embracing tobacco harm reduction, “the UK shows a better and more effective strategy to decrease the number of smokers. With broad education on harm-reducing alternatives, British health policy has drastically reduced the smoking rate within a few years.”
In 2011, 20% of the British smoked, thanks to vaping this dropped dramatically to 14%.
IEVA point to the 2018 Public Health England report that said vapers have a 99.5% lower risk of cancer than smokers. Overall, it estimated that e-cigarettes are at least 95 percent less harmful than tobacco cigarettes.
IEVA’s Dustin Dahlmann commented: “We welcome the EU Beating Cancer Plan. The strategy needs to consider all means available to reduce the burden of cancer related risks: It is of utmost importance that preventive measures are flanked by tobacco harm reduction. Otherwise, millions of smokers might miss the opportunity to tremendously reduce their risk of cancer.”
Related:
- Independent European Vape Alliance – [link]
- Evidence review of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products 2018; A report commissioned by Public Health England – [link]
- The Beating Cancer Plan, European Commission – [link]
Photo Credit:
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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