A nationwide awareness and education campaign is due to be rolled out by the vaping sector across the UK in April.
VApril, which is being organised by the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), will be fronted by Christian Jessen, who is a medical doctor, television presenter and writer.
‘The initiative comes on the back of Public Health England’s (PHE) recent review into vaping which reinforced that it was 95 percent less harmful than smoking and revealed that it was one of the most successful ways to quit conventional cigarettes,’ UKVIA said in a press note.
‘The campaign will call upon the country’s smokers to Take the VApril Challenge, which will involve vaping masterclasses at specialist retail stores for smokers to learn about the different products and nicotine strengths that are best suited to a successful quit. As part of the initiative, the UKVIA has published a special education guide – Vaping to break the Smoking Habit.’
“I am always amazed and disappointed to hear that we still have seven million smokers in this country and, according to PHE, around 40 percent of them have never tried vaping,” Jessen was quoted as saying. “Furthermore, more than half of the population don’t realise that vaping is a fraction of the risk of smoking.
“That’s why I’m a committed supporter of the idea of a national vaping awareness campaign such as VApril to encourage smokers to take the first steps to quitting their habit. Already some 1.5 million vapers have given up smoking altogether, but more education is needed to ensure this figure keeps growing.”
John Dunne, a director of UKVIA, said VApril would be the largest campaign ever run by the vaping industry and reflected how far the sector had come in a relatively short time. “The challenge for the industry, government and the public health community is to get across the message that e-cigarettes are a very small risk compared to smoking and that nearly three million smokers are now vaping, with a significant number having switched over altogether,” he said. “VApril aims to be the starting point for more smokers to quit their habit.”
The VApril campaign has its own website at: www.vapril.org.
Russia’s Minister of Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov, has said that Russia is preparing to categorize vaping products and tobacco products differently, and therefore to regulate them separately, according to a story by Diane Caruana for vapingpost.com
Manturov said the Russian government had taken the initiative to place vaping devices into a separate category because they were radically different from traditional cigarettes and tobacco.
This motion will be commended by many public health experts, who have been pointing out that any product regulations should be related to the risk of the product.
“Electronic devices are safer,” said Manturov. “Many experts, including Western experts, even articulate a figure: electronic means of nicotine delivery are 95 percent less harmful than conventional cigarettes.”
The minister said also that Russia’s Ministry of Health was onboard with the proposal to categorize the two products separately, and was urging smokers to switch to the safer alternatives.
The US Food and Drug Administration says that its release of an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) in respect of nicotine is a major step on the path to changing ‘dramatically’ the future of smoking in the US and saving millions of lives.
The ANPRM, Tobacco Product Standard for Nicotine Level of Combusted Cigarettes, is seeking public comment for consideration in developing a potential nicotine product standard.
The FDA believes that lowering nicotine to a minimally- or non-addictive level ‘could potentially save millions of lives, both in the near and long-terms’.
‘The ANPRM includes newly published estimates of one possible policy scenario for a nicotine product standard, including that approximately five million additional adult smokers could quit smoking within one year of implementation, compared to the baseline scenario,’ the FDA said in a note issued through its Center for Tobacco Products.
‘However, an even greater impact could be felt over time: by the year 2100, its estimated more than 33 million people – mostly youth and young adults – would have avoided becoming regular smokers. This could result in more than eight million fewer tobacco-caused deaths through the end of the century.
‘In July 2017, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., announced a new comprehensive plan that places nicotine – and the issue of addiction – at the center of the agency’s tobacco regulation efforts. As the cornerstone of the plan, the release of today’s [March 15] ANPRM is a major step on the path to dramatically changing the future of smoking in the United States and saving millions of lives.’
Meanwhile, Gottlieb said in a statement that the ANPRM provided a wide-ranging review of the current scientific understanding about the role nicotine played in creating or sustaining addiction to cigarettes. It sought comments on key areas, as well as additional research and data for public review, as the FDA continued its consideration of developing a nicotine product standard.
‘We’re interested in public input on critical questions such as: what potential maximum nicotine level would be appropriate for the protection of public health?,’ the statement said. ‘Should a product standard be implemented all at once or gradually? What unintended consequences – such as the potential for illicit trade or for addicted smokers to compensate for lower nicotine by smoking more – might occur as a result? As we explore this novel approach to reducing the death and disease from combustible cigarettes, it’s critical that our policies reflect the latest science and is informed by the input we receive from our meetings with stakeholders, comments to the open public docket and future opportunities for comment.’
Gottlieb said also that the FDA’s plan demonstrated a greater awareness that nicotine, while highly addictive, was delivered through products on a continuum of risk, and that in order to address cigarette addiction successfully, it had to make it possible for current adult smokers who still sought nicotine to get it from alternative and less harmful sources.
‘To that end, the agency’s regulation of both novel nicotine delivery products such as e-cigarettes and traditional tobacco products will encourage the innovation of less harmful products while still ensuring that all tobacco products are put through an appropriate series of regulatory gates to maximize any public health benefits and minimize their harms,’ Gottlieb said. ‘This will be achieved through our ongoing regulatory work to develop several foundational rules, guidances, product standards and other regulations.’
Gottlieb said also that the FDA planned shortly to issue two additional ANPRMs: one to seek comment on the role that flavors – including menthol – played in initiation, use and cessation of tobacco products. ‘A second ANPRM will solicit additional comments and data related to the regulation of premium cigars.
‘At the same time we’re also jump-starting new work to re-evaluate and modernize our approach to the development and regulation of safe and effective medicinal nicotine replacement products such as nicotine gums, patches and lozenges that help smokers quit. This is a pivotal part of our overall public health approach.’
The Netherlands-based Fontem Ventures said today that it had acquired an equity stake in Cosmic Fog Vapors, which it described as ‘an iconic innovator in high quality e-vapor liquids’.
‘Founded in 2013 [in California, US] by Brant Peto and Rob Crossley, Cosmic Fog has an excellent reputation for developing unique flavours with significant appeal to adult vapers,’ Fontem said in a press note. ‘Their products are sold in more than 5,000 vape stores in the USA and in more than 60 countries around the world.’
Liquids are the largest contributor to the value of the global e-vapor sector.
“[W]e’re excited about this partnership with Cosmic Fog,” said Fontem’s CEO, Titus Wouda Kuipers (pictured). “Working alongside them shows our commitment to seeing the vaping category grow and prosper.
“Becoming a partner in Cosmic Fog demonstrates that we love their passion and entrepreneurship. We see a great opportunity to learn from their expertise, particularly in the vape shop sales channel.
“Cosmic Fog will continue to do what it does best – develop unique, high quality liquids with huge appeal to adult vapers.”
Meanwhile, Peto said the partnership allowed Cosmic Fog to leverage Fontem’s experience in e-vapor, including in regulatory compliance, ensuring that Cosmic Fog’s customers enjoyed continued access to its products as international e-vapor markets matured.
And Crossley was quoted as saying the partnership was hugely beneficial, not only to Cosmic Fog but to the category as a whole, because it demonstrated Fontem’s support for a variety of vaping formats, including open systems.
A smokers’ lobby group has criticised the UK government’s plan, revealed yesterday, to introduce an excise tax on heated tobacco products.
According to the government, the duty on these products will be based on the weight of tobacco in the product.
“Heated tobacco may not be as safe as electronic cigarettes but current evidence suggests there is almost certain to be a reduction in risk for cigarette smokers,” said Simon Clark (pictured), director of Forest [Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco].
“Why would any government want to undermine the future of a product that may encourage smokers to quit voluntary and without coercion?”
Clark pointed out that many smokers who tried electronic-cigarettes found they didn’t like them. The attraction of heated tobacco was that it filled the gap between combustible cigarettes and e-cigarettes, which don’t contain tobacco.
“Heated tobacco products are still in their infancy,” he said. “Adding excise duty will almost certainly deter many smokers from switching to a potentially safer device.”
The organizers of the 2018 CORESTA Congress yesterday called for papers.
The Congress, whose theme is Science and Innovation: Addressing the needs, will be hosted by the China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC).
It is due to be held on 22-26 October at the Intercontinental Hotel, Kunming, China.
In a joint announcement, the CNTC Congress Organizing Committee and the CORESTA Secretariat said that the call for papers was now online.
The organizers said the call for papers was currently accessible through the CORESTA website at www.coresta.org and would be made available later through the official Congress website.
Direct access to the abstract submission system was available through the CORESTA website at: CORESTA 2018 abstract submission
The announcement said authors would receive immediate receipt messages by email to confirm the successful submission of their abstracts and would be informed of the CORESTA Reading Committee’s selection towards the end of June 2018.
The deadline for the submission of abstracts is May 16.
The World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTH) has called upon governments to develop plans by 2021 for phasing out the sale of tobacco products.
In a statement, the WCTH, which held its 17th conference in Cape Town, South Africa, on March 7-9, also made 10 declarations.
In a preamble to the declarations, the WCTH said the tobacco epidemic represented one of the biggest public health threats the world had ever faced.
‘Tobacco use kills more than seven million people each year, and the vast majority of these deaths take place in low- and middle-income countries.
‘The global economic cost of smoking amounts to nearly two trillion dollars and two percent of the worlds GDP in 2016.
‘Tobacco use also undermines sustainable development, imposing a huge burden on the global economy, exacerbating poverty, contributing to food insecurity, and harming the environment.
‘There is an irreconcilable conflict between the manufacture and marketing of tobacco products and the right to health.
‘The tobacco industry is a driver of poverty and linked to child labor, violation of workers’ rights, food insecurity and exploitation of farmers. African governments need to take concrete and urgent action to implement alternative livelihoods that are the rich sources of income free from tobacco.
‘Ending the scourge of tobacco and achieving the SDGs [sustainable development goals] will require urgent action.
‘Therefore the 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health affirms the following:
We call on governments to unite with civil society to stop tobacco industry interference and accelerate implementation of the WHO FCTC [World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control] using a whole-of-government approach.
We urge governments, scientists, research entities, foundations, and civil-society organizations to reject or cease engagement with the Philip Morris International-funded Foundation for a Smokefree World and other initiatives of the tobacco industry
We call on African governments to operationalize the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on financing for development that recommends increasing tobacco taxes as an untapped, sustainable domestic resource mobilization strategy, for accelerating the implementation of the WHO FCTC in Africa.
We call on Parties to actively engage in the development of the WHO FCTC Medium Term Strategic Framework and Plan and to endorse them at the forthcoming eighth session of the Conference of the Parties of the WHO FCTC.
We call on Finance Ministers to actively support the WCTOH 2018 Declarations by prioritizing sustainable funding for tobacco control and ceasing public and private investment in the tobacco industry.
We call on governments to extend as a priority, fiscal policies to continually decrease the affordability and accessibility of tobacco products
We call on the Parties to the WHO FCTC to integrate gender-based data-collection and reporting into Party reports to the Conference of the Parties [COP] on their implementation of the WHO FCTC by COP9.
We call upon the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to align with the decision of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and end its collaboration with the tobacco industry immediately.’
The US-based Consumer Choice Center (CCC) yesterday applauded the American Cancer Society’s acknowledgement that electronic cigarettes ‘can appropriately help smokers quit’.
In a press note, the CCC said that ACS, in a clinical recommendation, had tepidly endorsed e-cigarettes in making the statement:
“Many smokers choose to quit smoking without the assistance of a clinician and some opt to use e-cigarettes to accomplish this goal. The ACS recommends that clinicians support all attempts to quit the use of combustible tobacco and work with smokers to eventually stop using any tobacco product, including e-cigarettes. Some smokers, despite firm clinician advice, will not attempt to quit smoking cigarettes and will not use FDA approved cessation medications. These individuals should be encouraged to switch to the least harmful form of tobacco product possible; switching to the exclusive use of e-cigarettes is preferable to continuing to smoke combustible products.”
CCC Senior Fellow Jeff Stier (pictured) was quoted as saying that the ACS had taken a step in the right direction by recognizing this important harm-reduction method.
‘I continue to call on the American Heart Association and other major health organizations to reverse course and support smokers who wish to quit smoking with the use of e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn tobacco, or smokeless tobacco, all of which are significantly less harmful than smoking,’ said Stier.
In a June 2016 piece for Morning Consult, Stier had called out the ACS by name for failing to support smokers – and their healthcare providers – by not only refusing to endorse the use of e-cigarettes as a way to quit smoking but for actively distorting the science to oppose it.
‘It’s no wonder that American doctors are doing a poor job helping their addicted patients make better decisions about how to get nicotine if they can’t or aren’t ready to get off of it completely,’ said Stier. ‘Public health groups in the US have been indoctrinating providers with misinformation.’
In contrast, the press note said; in the UK the government had been constantly evaluating e-cigarette use. Just this month, Public Health England had issued an update to its landmark 2015 review where it concluded: “that e-cigarettes are around 95 percent safer than smoked tobacco and they can help smokers to quit”.
‘Physician specialty groups must do a better job of educating their members and standardizing harm reduction advice,’ the press note said. ‘There’s barely a body part or function which isn’t compromised by smoking. From medical schools to credentialing organizations, the entire American medical establishment needs to kick the habit of providing politically correct quit-smoking advice and replace it with up-to-date medically validated harm reduction advice. They should do so as if their patients’ lives depend on it.’
Public Health England (PHE) is trying to dispel some of the persistent inaccuracies and misconceptions that surround electronic cigarettes and vaping.
Writing on the Gov.uk Blogs website, Martin Dockrell, PHE’s tobacco control programme lead, said that e-cigarettes tended to court controversy among the public and media alike. Not surprisingly, there were lots of inaccuracies and misconceptions about e-cigarettes and vaping.
‘Our latest comprehensive independent e-cigarette review, authored by leading academics in the tobacco control field, looks at the up-to-date international data and peer-reviewed research,’ Dockrell said.
‘Despite the sometimes confused, and confusing, media reporting around the safety of e-cigarettes, there is growing consensus around the evidence. While not without some risk, when compared to smoking e-cigarettes are far less harmful.
‘This view is supported by a number of key bodies, including Cancer Research UK, Action on Smoking and Health, the Royal College of Physicians, the British Medical Association and, recently, a major US science body, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.’
Dockrell then goes on to examine and debunk five common myths about e-cigarettes and vaping.
In summary, he said, e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes were not the same and shouldn’t be treated as such. ‘It’s important that England’s seven million smokers are aware of the differences and have accurate information to inform their health decisions. E-cigarettes aren’t completely risk free but carry a fraction of the risk of smoking and are helping thousands of smokers to quit and stay smoke-free.’
Philippine vapers say that the latest Public Health England (PHE) report validates their position that vaping electronic cigarettes is far less harmful than is smoking cigarettes, and that e-cigarettes should form part of the country’s tobacco control program, according to a story in The Business Mirror.
The new e-cigarette evidence review, undertaken by leading independent tobacco experts, provides evidence that vaping poses only a fraction of the risks of smoking, and that switching completely from smoking to vaping conveys substantial health benefits. It recommends that e-cigarettes be made available to those who wish to quit smoking.
“Listen to the experts,” said Tom Pinlac, president of The Vapers Philippines. “It is time for the Department of Health to look into this report so that they can recommend e-cigarettes and heated-tobacco products to smokers who want to quit.”
Pinlac said it was an outrage that smokers were denied the proper information about e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. “Educate smokers about vaping and heated-tobacco products instead of resorting to fearmongering,” he said.
Meanwhile, Edward Gatchalian, president of Philippine E-Liquid Manufacturers Association, said that more than 17 million Filipino smokers could benefit from vaping e-cigs or heated-tobacco products because they were significantly less harmful than was smoking.
“It is said that 87,000 deaths every year are attributed to smoking-related diseases,” Gatchalian said. “Smokers should switch to vaping or tobacco-heated products if they want to kick the habit of smoking. This is a very clear message embodied in the PHE report.”
