WHO Reiterates its Opposition to Harm Reduction
In the runup to World No Tobacco day on May 31, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reasserted its abstinence-only approach to nicotine.
In a May 19 press release titled “Quit tobacco to be a winner,” the WHO said that the tobacco industry has “promoted e-cigarettes as cessation aids under the guises of contributing to global tobacco control” while employing “strategic marketing tactics to hook children on this same portfolio of products, making them available in over 15,000 attractive flavors.”
The agency also insisted that the scientific evidence on e-cigarettes as cessation aids was inconclusive, and that “switching from conventional tobacco products to e-cigarettes is not quitting.”
“We must be guided by science and evidence, not the marketing campaigns of the tobacco industry—the same industry that has engaged in decades of lies and deceit to sell products that have killed hundreds of millions of people,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “E-cigarettes generate toxic chemicals, which have been linked to harmful health effects such as cardiovascular disease and lung disorders.”
We must be guided by science and evidence, not the marketing campaigns of the tobacco industry.
The global health body also reiterated its commitment to excluding the tobacco industry from the debate through article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
“The tobacco industry is the single greatest barrier to reducing deaths caused by tobacco use,” the WHO wrote. “Their interests are irreconcilably opposed to promoting public health and point to a critical need to keep them out of global tobacco control efforts.”
The organization also cited the United Nations Global Compact, which banned the tobacco industry from participation in 2017. “In line with Article 5.3, industry has been entirely excluded from the UN system and its agencies have been urged to devise strategies to prevent industry interference,” the WHO wrote.