VBI Demands Evidence-Based Debate
Vape Business Ireland is demanding the Irish Government has a balanced and evidence-based debate on vaping as a harm reduction tool
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by Dave Cross
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The message from VBI was delivered to Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD prior to him opening the Leadership Summit on Tobacco Control hosted by the advisory board of the World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH).
The conference was due to take place in May but was postponed to this month. Delegates debated “the negative impact of tobacco use on outcomes for people with COVID-19, while the tobacco industry is actively exploiting the pandemic to improve its public image through offering donations and support to governments under the guise of ‘corporate social responsibility’ activities.”
It classifies vaping as a “new tobacco product”.
Commenting prior to the event starting last week, VBI spokesperson Eoin O’Boyle said: “Today’s event will act as the curtain raiser to the 18th World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) rescheduled to take place in Dublin next year. Ahead of both events, we once again reiterate to Government the importance of not being obscured by one-sided commentary in relation to vaping products. Daily our members continue to see the significant role vaping is playing as a less harmful alternative in helping Irish people switch away from smoked tobacco products.
“We know from Healthy Ireland research that 41 per cent of Irish people who successfully quit smoking over a twelve-month period did so using vaping products, making vaping the most successful quit tool after will power alone. This evidence is further supported by Public Health England’s (PHE) seventh independent report on vaping published earlier this year which found that quit rates involving a vaping product were higher than any other method in every region in England.
“In the context of today’s event and the forth coming pre-legislative scrutiny process of the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill, we want to remind the Taoiseach and Minister’s Stephen Donnelly TD and Frank Feighan TD why it’s vital that a well-rounded approach is taken to inform health policy making on vaping products. Failure to do so could have a potentially damaging effect on over 240,000 Irish vapers, the majority of whom have made the choice to switch to vaping to help reduce smoking as well as smokers who are currently trying to quit.”
References:
- The 18th World Conference on Tobacco or Health - https://wctoh.org/leadership-summit/
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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