Ban flavoured vapes, WHO says, urging tobacco-style controls (updated)

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14/12/2023 13:41

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       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. 
    Tobacco company Imperial Brands  IMB.L  and vape firm ANDS
said vapes pose significantly lower health risks than tobacco
and help reduce its harms, while flavours are key in encouraging
smokers to switch - a position shared by some tobacco control
advocates. 
    "Regulating vapes like cigarettes would only serve to
reinforce misunderstandings about the relative risks of vaping
and send the wrong message to smokers," said Marina Murphy,
senior director of scientific and medical affairs at ANDS,
adding the WHO's position was "detached from reality". 
    The WHO said while long-term health risks were not
understood, vapes generated some substances known to cause
cancer, posed risks to heart and lung health and could affect
brain development in young people. 

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