CAPHRA Celebrates UK study
A UK study that once more proves vaping risks are considerably lower than those posed by smoking has been lauded by the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates
-
by Dave Cross
Share on:
“Another day and another study proves vaping is considerably less harmful than smoking, yet the World Health Organisation continues its anti-vaping campaign at the cost of millions of smokers’ lives,” says Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of CAPHRA.
Her comments follow an independent review of scientific evidence out of the United Kingdom which shows vapers are exposed to much lower levels of toxicants, compared to smokers.
The report covered 413 studies since 2018 and used the list of toxicants identified by the World Health Organisation, such as carbon monoxide, tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Speaking to the report Dr Debbie Robson of Queens College London said: “In terms of health risks, we said that vaping imposes a small fraction of the risk of smoking in the short to medium term. Consistently, vaping exposes people to much lower level, significantly lower levels of risk than smoking.”
The third and latest report was commissioned by the Office for Health & Disparities, formerly known as Public Health England, the highest health authority in the UK.
“Public Health England stands resolutely behind its years’ old statement that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking. Those peddling lies about vaping increasingly struggle to rebuke the raft of independent studies and reviews that confirm that alternative nicotine products are considerably safer than combustible cigarettes,” says Ms Loucas.
This latest review out of the UK aims to inform government and policy makers about prevalence and characteristics of vaping among adults and young people in England. Notably in terms of policy, it recommended that the enforcement of age restrictions instead of regulations on vaping and smoking be improved to reduce access for both products.
Dr Robson said: “How any information is communicated and more importantly how that’s perceived by the user is really important, for the millions of people who smoke, who will die of or are living with chronic health conditions while we debate this.”
Ms Loucas concluded: “When the narrative is based on scientific evidence and personal experiences, countries like New Zealand are seeing their overall smoking rate fall considerably. When it’s communicated positively and governments strictly regulate vaping, rather than try to ban it, adult smokers successfully and confidently switch to safer nicotine products.
“The WHO does its best to muddy the waters around vaping but over 70 countries have now ignored their advice and legalised and regulated safer nicotine products with considerable success. This latest review will hopefully compel countries to get on and do what’s right for the public health of their citizens.”
CAPHRA says despite decades of tobacco control efforts, harm reduction advocacy and public health education on the harms of smoking, the decline in global smoking rates has been frustratingly slow. Sadly, smoking remains the single biggest cause of preventable death when it doesn’t need to be.
References:
- The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Advocates – https://caphraorg.net/
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.
Join the discussion
Harm Reduction For The Rich
The United Kingdom risks becoming a harm reduction country only for the wealthy, according to Michael Landl of the World Vapers’ Alliance
-
by Dave Cross
CAPHRA Highlights Tobacco Control Flaws
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates highlights the flaws in tobacco control which has led to the rise of black market in Australia
-
by Dave Cross
A Missed Opportunity at COP10
The Smoke Free Sweden movement says that COP10 was a missed opportunity to save millions of lives
-
by Dave Cross
COP10: Promote Tobacco Harm Reduction
Experts with Smoke Free Sweden are emphasising the urgent need for a Tobacco Harm Reduction approach at COP10
-
by Dave Cross
