Ban flavoured vapes, WHO says, urging tobacco-style controls

JAPAN TOBACCO

14/12/2023 08:00

LONDON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization
(WHO) on Thursday urged governments to treat e-cigarettes
similarly to tobacco and ban all flavours, threatening cigarette
companies' bets on smoking alternatives. 
    Some researchers, campaigners and governments see
e-cigarettes, or vapes, as a key tool in reducing the death and
disease caused by smoking. But the U.N. agency said "urgent
measures" were needed to control them. 
    Citing studies, it said there was insufficient evidence that
vapes helped smokers quit, that they were harmful to health and
that they could drive nicotine addiction among non-smokers,
especially children and young people. 
    More 13-15 year olds are using vapes than adults in all WHO
regions helped by aggressive marketing, it continued. 
    "Kids are being recruited and trapped at an early age to use
e-cigarettes and may get hooked to nicotine," said Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, urging countries to
implement strict measures. 
    The WHO called for changes, including bans on all flavouring
agents like menthol, and the application of tobacco control
measures to vapes. Those include high taxes and bans on use in
public places. 
    The WHO has no authority over national regulations, and only
provides guidance. But its recommendations are often adopted
voluntarily. 
    The WHO and some other anti-tobacco organisations are
pushing for stricter regulations on newer nicotine products,
taking aim at the alternatives on which some cigarette giants
like Philip Morris International  PM.N  and British American
Tobacco  BATS.L  are basing their future strategies. 
    Major tobacco companies are hoping to build new revenue
streams from cigarette alternatives as ever-stricter rules and
falling smoking rates squeeze their traditional businesses in
some markets. 
    The industry says vapes pose significantly lower health
risks than tobacco and can help reduce its harms, with some
flavours and lower prices important to encouraging smokers to
switch - a position shared by some tobacco control advocates. 
    The WHO said vapes generate substances, some of which are
known to cause cancer, and pose risks to heart and lung health.
They can also harm brain development in young people, it said,
citing studies.  

 (Reporting by Emma Rumney; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
 ((Emma.Rumney@thomsonreuters.com; +447391409253;))