Tag: All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vaping

  • Group: UK COP9 Delegation Must Support Science

    Group: UK COP9 Delegation Must Support Science

    A parliamentary group in the U.K. has released a report that criticizes anti-vaping groups funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies for being hostile to tobacco harm reduction (THR). The report also states that Bloomberg diminishes the rights of consumers and vapers in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as the Philippines.

    Credit: Olrat

    The UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vaping (APPG) said these anti-vaping “civil society observers” will be allowed to participate in the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Conference of the Parties 9 (FCTC COP 9) in November this year, concluding that the WHO continues to attempt to discredit UK’s science and policy approach to address the smoking problem, reports the Manila Bulletin. It said THR is a public health approach which is supposedly one of the original commitments of FCTC.

    The APPG warned about the participation of The Union, a group funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, as well as other anti-vaping non-government organizations in the FCTC COP 9 meeting in November. The APPG is asking the UK delegation to the FCTC COP9 meeting to ensure that its national experience and real-life evidence/data are reflected in the discussions within the WHO.

    The APPG also wanted to ensure that the WHO would not move away from the fundamental objectives set forth by the FCTC given its original commitment to harm reduction—a public health approach being opposed by some influential non-government organizations. “The majority of NGOs listed as ‘Observers’ are hostile to the concept of tobacco harm reduction and thus the UK’s policy approach. For instance, ‘The Union’ has advocated a complete ban on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products in low and middle-income countries, which are home to 80 percent of the world’s smokers,” the APPG said in the report.

  • Call for Britain to Make Its Mark in Fight to End Smoking

    Call for Britain to Make Its Mark in Fight to End Smoking

    Mark Pawsey (Photo courtesy of UKVIA)

    In a report released today March 31, the U.K. All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Vaping has called upon the government to make the most of Brexit by challenging the World Health Organization’s (WHO) opposition to vaping at the upcoming Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Conference of Parties (COP).

    The call follows a four-month Inquiry into the FCTC by the APPG which investigated the FCTC’s history, governance and approach to evidence-based decision-making. It was prompted by the WHO encouraging and applauding bans on vaping.

    At a time when the U.K. government has set an ambitious target to make England smoke-free by 2030, and Public Health England has asserted vaping is at least 95 percent less harmful than smoking, the members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords wanted to ensure the WHO doesn’t turn its back on the lives of the 1 billion people around the world who still smoke, including the 7 million in the U.K.

    The parliamentarians—which included Viscount Matt Ridley, a vocal advocate for reduced harm alternatives—have called on the government to consider “dramatically scaling back our funding” if they don’t see a change in the approach from the WHO with the FCTC better reflecting the U.K.’s national interests.

    The main recommendations from the report include:

    • Ensuring the WHO returns to the founding principle of the Treaty which includes harm reduction.
    • Restricting any decision to ban vaping and other reduced risk alternatives to smoking.
    • Sending experts and consumers to sit alongside the Department of Health & Social Care officials at the multilateral event.
    • Establishing a Working Group to look at the science and evidence for new and emerging products.
    • Ensuring openness and transparency instead of secretive decision making.

    If the WHO continue to pursue an agenda-driven approach to ban less harmful alternatives to smoking, then the U.K. should consider dramatically scaling back our funding.

    Viscount Matt Ridley

    The inquiry heard evidence from Clive Bates, former director of anti-smoking group ASH, as well Professor Lynne Dawkins from the London South Bank University and consumer groups the New Nicotine Alliance and We Vape, among others.

    They called for the delegation of departmental health officials, diplomats and activists usually sent to these events to be strengthened with experts who have real world experience, and even former smokers who can attest to the benefits of vaping and other reduced risk products. It was strongly felt that the voice of the consumer has been missing in these debates so far, and by defending the strong story the U.K has to tell at home, the government would be putting the marker down for “Global Britain” abroad.

    Now that the U.K. has left the EU, the U.K. delegation is no longer bound to a common European position on tobacco and nicotine policy. The COP9 meeting would be one of the first opportunities for the U.K. to take a stand at a UN forum.

    We call on the government to defend the U.K. approach, challenge the WHO to stub out their ban on vaping, and help return the FCTC to its founding pillar of harm reduction.

    Mark Pawsey, chair of the APPG for Vaping

    The MPs called for coalitions to be built with like-minded countries that have embraced tobacco harm reduction and have their own good stories to tell. At previous COP meetings, member states have often been afraid to speak up, but the inquiry encouraged the U.K. government to stand firm in defending its strong domestic position, even if the WHO continues with its prohibitionist approach.

    “There is no doubt that the WHO has developed a negative stance in relation to vaping over recent years,” said Mark Pawsey, member of parliament for rugby and chair of the APPG for Vaping. “We wanted to evaluate whether it remained fit for purpose in an evolved landscape where new technology has enabled new harm reduction strategies.

    “One of the founding pillars of the treaty the U.K. signed up to nearly 20 years ago was that of harm reduction. If the WHO are opposed to adhering to this and continue to pursue an agenda-driven approach to ban less harmful alternatives to smoking, then the U.K. should consider dramatically scaling back our funding.

    “At the FCTC COP9 the U.K. has a unique opportunity to champion its progressive, successful and evidence-based, domestic policies on the global stage. We are a world leader in tobacco harm reduction, and we call on the government to defend the U.K. approach, challenge the WHO to stub out their ban on vaping, and help return the FCTC to its founding pillar of harm reduction.”

    The APPG has written to Jo Churchill MP, the Public Health Minister at the Department of Health & Social Care with its findings and has requested a meeting to discuss its recommendations.

    This is the first of two inquiries the APPG for Vaping is undertaking this year. Its second—looking at how the U.K. can diverge from EU rules to further the U.K.’s chances of reaching the smoke-free 2030 goal—is set to launch imminently.

  • Vapor Advocates Attend U.K. Parliament Group Meeting

    Vapor Advocates Attend U.K. Parliament Group Meeting

    Mark Pawsey MP and Chairman of the APPG for Vaping

    Prominent tobacco harm reduction advocates Gerry Stimson (Knowledge-Action-Change), Clive Bates (The Counterfactual), John Dunne (U.K. Vaping Industry Association) and Daniel Pryor (Adam Smith Institute) attended a virtual meeting organized by the U.K. All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Vaping, a collection of MPs and Peers focused on e-cigarettes.

    The tobacco harm-reduction advocates’ input will be used to advise the U.K. delegation to the Conference of the Parties (COP9) to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which is scheduled to take place in the Netherlands this November.

    Chaired by Mark Pawsey, the APPG is keen for the U.K. to defend its vaping position internationally, and to promote the successes of British vaping. The expert witnesses highlighted the considerable public health benefits of harm reduction tools, and the potential benefit they could provide around the world.

    Tuesday’s evidence session came as the U.K. government continues its own review of tobacco regulations, meaning a busy time for advocates hoping to protect the public potential of vaping.

    “I was happy to accept the invitation from the APPG, because the UKVIA believe we have an incredible opportunity to spread the word—that innovative, appropriately-regulated vaping industries save lives,” said Dunne in a statement. “Post-Brexit Britain is newly independent in forums like COP9, and it means we can drive this positive message home like never before.”