World Cancer Day Change Call
Radical change is needed, and world leaders need “to wake up”, said the World Vapers' Alliance on the eve of World Cancer Day
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by Dave Cross
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The Union for International Cancer Control says: “By raising worldwide awareness, improving education and catalysing personal, collective and government action, we are all working together to reimagine a world where millions of preventable cancer deaths are saved and access to life-saving cancer treatment and care is equitable for all - no matter who you are or where you live.”
World Vapers' Alliance commented: “Ten million people die from cancer yearly, and tobacco smoking is the leading cause worldwide. Consumers urge world leaders to wake up and finally start embracing tobacco harm reduction to save those lives.”
In response, the World Vapers' Alliance published a report on how countries can achieve their smoke-free goals and prevent hundreds of thousands of cancer cases globally.
Report Overview:
- The United Kingdom's consumer-friendly vaping policies reduced smoking rates by more than 29% in the last decade.
- Sweden is becoming the first country to achieve the smoke-free goal of a 5% smoking rate by widely accepting the use of snus, vaping, and nicotine pouches.
- Within only five years (2016-2021), cigarette sales in Japan plummeted by 43% due to the introduction of heat-not-burn products.
- New Zealand is the best-case example of communicating about vaping.
The organisation added: “Nicotine pouches are the least harmful nicotine alternative to smoking and have a similar risk profile as conventional nicotine replacement products (e.g. gums or patches). Decision makers must regulate pouches according to their risk and ensure they are accessible for smokers.”
WVA director Michael Landl said: “For too long, governments have relied on unsuccessful anti-smoking policies and neglected a public health revolution in front of their eyes. The invention of vaping and similar harm-reduction products has already saved millions of lives. Vaping is less harmful than smoking, and every smoker switching to vaping should be celebrated. Instead, many governments are fighting against this life-saving technology.”
Few countries have embraced harm-reduction strategies, but those see the best results in fighting against smoking. The World Vapers' Alliance compiled an overview of the best-practice countries dealing with harm-reduction products.
According to the report, the harm-reduction champions are Sweden, the United Kingdom, Japan, and New Zealand. At the same time, countries such as Australia are failing in their pursuit to drive down smoking and cancer rates.
Landl concluded: "Countries who fight vaping and similar products are losing the fight against smoking because they refuse to acknowledge scientific facts and real-world evidence. World Cancer Day should be reason enough to change their failing policies. It is time for politicians to get on board with the vaping revolution - for the sake of public health and millions of smokers worldwide.”
References:
- World Cancer Day - https://www.worldcancerday.org/
- The full report - https://worldvapersalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Learning_form_the_Best-_Policy_Primer.pdf
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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