A group of scientists and researchers is calling on the World Health Organisation (WHO) to resist the urge to crack down on e-cigarettes.
The vapour cigarettes do deliver nicotine and a leaked document suggests that the WHO is looking to put them in the same category as regular cigarettes and declare them a threat to public health.
The smokeless e-cigarettes are expected to be high on the agenda when the health organisation’s tobacco control meeting is held in Moscow, Russia in October.
Professor Gerry Stimson from Imperial College in London says he is concerned WHO may be dismissing the positive effects of the vapour cigarettes.
“They want to include them [e-cigarettes] in this big international convention on tobacco products, so it’s kind of sending the message that e-cigarettes are like every other tobacco product and are therefore risky and dangerous,” he said.
“We think that’s sending a wrong message, but also, we think that WHO should be looking at the potential for the positive health effects of e-cigarettes.”
Professor Stimson has joined forces with more than 50 scientists and researchers from around the globe working in the field of tobacco control and public health policy to put forward their case to the director-general of WHO.
“Many people are not really happy with nicotine patches and gums and at long last we have something which allows people to use nicotine, but not to die from the smoke,” he said.
“That’s the problem, people smoke for the nicotine, but they die from the smoke.”
Professor Stimson is calling on WHO to show “courageous leadership” when considering their stance on e-cigarettes.
“There’s a big chance to do something really good, really powerful which will help to bring an end to smoking.”
Too many questions remain: Australian scientist
Five Australians were among the signatories, but missing was Professor Simon Chapman from Sydney University’s School of Public Health.
He says he does not support the push because there are too many unanswered questions about e-cigarettes.
“The main question that seems to be out there is whether they genuinely do help people quit smoking and the evidence which is in so far suggests that, by far and away, the most likely outcome for somebody who is a cigarette smoker and who starts using e-cigarettes is that they use both, they continue smoking, they reduce their smoking a little bit,” he said.
While it may appear that cutting back is a good thing, Professor Chapman says smoking less does little to reduce the risk.
“The evidence that’s around from quite a large number of studies now shows that in fact, reducing smoking if you’ve been smoking for a long time is actually not going to reduce your risk. It’s only cessation of smoking which actually reduces risk,” he said.
While Western Australia has already banned e-cigarettes, Professor Chapman says the decision of WHO has the potential to drive change around the world.
“[WHO] can’t … of course order any country to do anything,” he said.
“But there are now 174 countries around the world who have signed up to the WHO’s framework convention on tobacco control, so 174 countries seem to think that what the WHO says on tobacco control at large is worth following.
“So if they were to arrive at a position on e-cigarettes and of course, they haven’t got a position at the moment, I think that that would probably be quite influential.”