Tag: World Health Organization

Quit for Good President: WHO Report ‘Unscientific’

Lorenzo Mata Jr. (Photo: Quit for Good)
A public health advocacy group based in the Philippines has criticized the latest report of the World Health Organization on the use of electronic cigarettes, saying the global body undermines the significant progress made in public health over the past two decades as smokers transitioned to smoke-free products.
Lorenzo Mata Jr., president of Quit for Good, said the WHO’s continued demonization of e-cigarettes disregards the wealth of scientific evidence demonstrating that smoke-free alternatives such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and snus have helped millions of smokers in countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan and Sweden successfully quit smoking.
“The best available clinical and population studies consistently show that vaping has led to adult smoking cessation. While it is necessary to monitor youth vaping, a complete ban on e-cigarettes will only exacerbate the smoking epidemic and its associated serious health conditions,” Mata Jr. said in a statement.
As a Filipino physician, Mata said the WHO’s failure to differentiate between the risks of e-cigarettes and combustible tobacco is unscientific.
Last month, the WHO issued a statement calling for urgent action to safeguard children and prevent the adoption of e-cigarettes based on what Quit for Good insists is a misrepresented account of the scientific evidence to fit its predetermined conclusion to ban e-cigarettes or regulate them as strictly as far more dangerous cigarettes.
Additionally, the WHO provided data indicating that the global market for electronic cigarettes grew from $7.81 billion in 2015 to $22.35 million in 2022. Between 2018 and 2022, the disposable e-cigarette market expanded by 116 percent, encompassing over 550,000 different products.
Mata said the WHO’s diagnosis of the situation is flawed, as it fails to acknowledge the significant decline in harmful substance exposure resulting from smokers switching to e-cigarettes and other smoke-free alternatives, or the fact that smoke-free products work for many smokers better than traditional smoking cessation therapies.
“E-cigarettes do not threaten public health but provide smokers with an exit from smoking, which is the real problem. Labeling these innovative products an emerging threat to public health is worrisome because the WHO essentially tells smokers that continuing smoking is better than switching to e-cigarettes. This is patently wrong,” he said.
Quit for Good highlights that countries that banned e-cigarettes did not eradicate vaping but instead inadvertently created an unregulated underground market that poses risks to public health due to the absence of regulatory standards.
Mata said these bans only benefit unscrupulous criminal gangs that are happy to sell these products to anyone, including children, without any controls as to what’s in them or how they’re made.
According to independent public health experts, e-cigarettes and other smoke-free products offer an opportunity to combat smoking-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease and lung disease by transitioning to nicotine products with significantly reduced risk and no combustion.
Commenting on a similar WHO report published earlier, Peter Hajek, Director of the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit at Queen Mary University of London, said: “Given the tremendous benefits this transition would bring to public health, it is paradoxical that the WHO has adopted such a strident anti-vaping stance that risks impeding this progress. This new report perpetuates this tradition, calling for a ban on less risky alternatives while freely allowing the sale of tobacco. The report misrepresents evidence and should come with a prominent health warning.”
John Britton, an emeritus professor of Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham, said the WHO still fails to differentiate between addiction to tobacco smoking, which leads to millions of deaths annually, and addiction to nicotine, which does not.
“The WHO appears content with the inconsistency of recommending medicinal nicotine products for treating smoking addiction while advocating the prohibition of consumer nicotine products that serve the same purpose, but more effectively. The WHO is correct in discouraging non-smokers, particularly children, from using any nicotine product. However, for over a billion tobacco smokers worldwide, electronic nicotine delivery systems are part of the solution, not the problem,” Britton said.
Mata said many countries, including the Philippines, have in fact chosen to embrace scientific evidence and regulate the use of innovative smoke-free products such as e-cigarettes to provide smokers with better options to quit.
January 15, 2024
WHO Seeks to Equate Risks of Vaping and Smoking

Image: Andrey Popov
The World Health Organization has urged governments to ban all flavors in e-cigarettes, treating them like combustible products.
While some consider e-cigarettes a key to reducing death and disease caused by smoking, the WHO said “urgent measures” are needed to control them, according to Reuters.
“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.

Regulating vapes like cigarettes would only serve to reinforce misunderstandings about the relative risks of vaping and send the wrong message to smokers.
Marina Murphy, senior director of scientific and medical affairs, ANDS
He urged countries to implement strict measures, such as bans on all flavors and introducing tobacco control measures to vapor products. These would include high taxes and vape bans in public places.
While the WHO does not have authority over national regulations, its recommendations are often voluntarily adopted.
“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 that the WHO’s position was “detached from reality.”
December 14, 2023
New Dates for COP10, MOP3 in Panama Announced
Photo: JeromeMaurice
The World Health Organization has announced the dates for the resumed in-person sessions of the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the third session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP3) to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.
Following communication received from Panama, the host country of COP10 and MOP3, and in consultation with the Bureaus of the Conference of the Parties to the FCTC and of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol, the dates for the resumed in-person sessions of COP10 and MOP3 have now been set as follows:
Resumed COP10: Feb. 5-10, 2024
Resumed MOP3: Feb 12-15, 2024
November 28, 2023
‘Systemic Failures’ Blamed for Panama COP10 Delay

Photo: Unitas Photography
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) blames “systemic failures” at the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) for the postponement of the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP10) that was due to take place last week in Panama.
“While the ‘official’ reason for the postponement of the conference was said to be security issues on the ground in Panama, it has come to light that the unfulfilled COP10 organization contract for which $5 million was allocated by the Panamanian Ministry of Health was terminated by the government at the end of October, finding itself without any service provider to ensure the event took place,” CAPHRA wrote in an e-mailed statement.
“The fact that the WHO FCTC knew in October that they did not have a venue or conference planning underway and waited until the week before the conference was due to begin before cancelling it shows contempt for member states and a blatant disregard and dismissal of the months spent creating and submitting position papers, requesting budget allocations from their governments and planning their attendance—including airfares, visas and hotel reservations,” the tobacco harm reduction group wrote.
“But then again, it seems a nonissue that $5 million disappeared, said the CAPHRA. Money that doctors in Panama said would be better spent on actual healthcare in the country—incubators, medicines and facilities.”
According to CAPHRA, the WHO FCTC’s actions not only threaten public health but also cause economic strain and foster next-generation addiction.
“The WHO FCTC is tone deaf to anything or anyone that questions the work they are mandated to do,” said CAPHRA Executive Coordinator Nancy Loucas. “This includes sabotaging health policies, negatively impacting the environment and using funds from Big Pharma and the Bloomberg Foundation, among others, to promote misleading narratives and undermine tobacco harm reduction efforts.”
November 27, 2023
Postponed COP10 Expected to Prioritize ENDS Rules

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
The regulation of new and emerging e-cigarette, heated-tobacco and nicotine products will be one of the central topics of discussion at the COP10-MOP3 international tobacco control conferences next year, said Adriana Blanco, head of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), in a virtual press conference on Nov. 14, reported ECigIntelligence.
Speaking from the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Blanco said that proposals to create more stringent rules and health guidelines to govern new tobacco and nicotine product use will be prioritized at the COP10 (10th Conference of the Parties to the WHO FCTC) and the MOP3 (third session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products), which will now take place in Panama next year.
Last week, the WHO postponed COP10 to 2024 due to security issues for attendees and no new date has been announced.
November 16, 2023
COP10 Postponed Until 2024, No Date Announced

Photo: Maksym Yemelyanov
The Tenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the Third session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP3) to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products have been postponed to 2024.
“Following communication received from Panama, the host country of the Tenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Third session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, it is no longer possible to conduct COP10 and MOP3 in November 2023, as scheduled,” the FCTC wrote on its website.
The sessions are expected to be held in Panama, as early as possible in 2024, at dates to be confirmed.
The postponement of COP10 and MOP3 is due to the current security situation in Panama, which has been shaken by mass protests about a government contract that allows a Canadian company to expand its copper mining operations there.
The Convention Secretariat said it will communicate further details in relation to COP10 and MOP3, as soon as available.
November 9, 2023
2023 WHO Report Wrongly Details Malaysia Policy

Media has reported that the recent World Health Organization (WHO) 2023 report on the global tobacco epidemic wrongly claims Malaysia doesn’t have or barely has smoking bans in public places. Malaysia is marked as having “zero” indoor places with a complete smoking ban. Malaysia has had smoke-free places since 2004.
The WHO Report on the global tobacco epidemic 2023 launched yesterday – which covered data until 2022 – categorised Malaysia as having a “complete absence of a smoking ban, or up to two public places completely smoke-free,” according to media reports.
Other smoking ban categories in the WHO report were three to five public places completely smoke-free, six to seven public places completely smoke-free, and all public places completely smoke-free (or at least 90 per cent of the population covered by complete subnational smoke-free legislation).
Malaysia’s level of compliance with smoking bans was categorized as “data not required or not applicable”.
Going into further detail on public places with complete smoking bans, Malaysia was marked as having “zero” indoor places with a complete smoking ban, as well as having seven outdoor places where smoking is banned either fully or partially.
The 2023 tobacco epidemic report by the United Nations health agency claimed that Malaysia does not have smoking bans in government facilities, indoor offices and workplaces, and pubs and bars.
On health care facilities, educational facilities except for universities, universities, restaurants, and public transport, the WHO report categorized Malaysia with “no” ban, but with an additional tag: “Smoking is banned and the law does not allow designated smoking rooms, except if the health authority allows them by administrative act. Until now, no such administrative act has been taken”.
Malaysia did not receive a single “yes” in the WHO report across all eight categories of public places on whether there is a complete smoking ban. Compliance levels with smoking bans in Malaysia for all these categories were marked as “data not required or not applicable”.
Other countries in the Western Pacific region, in which Malaysia was categorized, received “yes” in various different categories of public places on whether there are smoking bans.
The WHO report also stated that for Malaysia, smoking is not comprehensively banned in one or more jurisdictions.
In another table comparing countries on additional public places with complete smoking bans, again, the WHO report marked “no” for Malaysia in all categories except one — outdoor children playgrounds or parks — that got a “yes”.
The “no” for Malaysia with a tag — “Smoking is banned and the law does not allow designated smoking rooms, except if the health authority allows them by administrative act. Until now, no such administrative act has been taken” — was marked for these categories: land transport (train, taxi, bus, metro, tram); air transport (plane); water transport (boat, vessel, ferry); indoor waiting areas of public transport (train station, metro station etc.); airports; hotels; prisons; shops (supermarket, shop, shopping mall); and cultural facilities (museum, cinema, theatre, arena). Other countries, on the other hand, obtained a “yes” for various different categories.
On additional characteristics of smoking bans, the WHO report marked “yes” for Malaysia on the requirement to display non-smoking signs in smoke-free places; fines on the establishment for not asking a patron to stop smoking and for not posting no-smoking signs; fines on the patron for smoking; and a citizen complaints and investigations system.
Malaysia was marked “no” for required signs identify a telephone number or other mechanisms for the public to report violations; fines on the establishment for not removing ashtrays; and dedicated funds for enforcement. “No explicit ban on use” was marked for Malaysia for the categories of ban on the use of heated tobacco products (HTPs) and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) or electronic non-nicotine delivery systems (ENNDS) in public places.
This table on additional characteristics of smoking bans appears to be mostly accurate for Malaysia, except for the ashtray component. Eateries in Malaysia are prohibited from providing ashtrays.
On “no explicit ban on use” of e-cigarettes in public places, although Malaysian health authorities do sometimes take action against people for vaping in no-smoking areas, this is not explicitly prohibited in the law, as the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations only covers cigarettes and conventional tobacco products.
Malaysia has had smoke-free places for nearly two decades since the enactment of the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations 2004 under the Food Act 1983. Section 11 of the 2004 regulation itself prohibits smoking in government premises, air-conditioned eateries, shopping complexes, hospitals or clinics, educational institutions or higher educational institutions, airports, and public vehicles or public transport terminals, among others. Designated smoke-free zones have been increased in Malaysia over the years in amendments to the 2004 regulation.
According to an update as of 2020 by Tobacco Control Laws – a website by U.S.-based International Legal Consortium, a team of lawyers who specialize in tobacco control – Malaysia is 100 percent smoke free in multiple indoor places, including public transport, government facilities, health care facilities, schools and universities, and restaurants, among others.
In 2019, then-Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad expanded the smoking ban from indoor restaurants to open-air eateries.
August 1, 2023
Activists Slam Latest WHO Report as Misguided

Photo: Tom
The World Health Organization’s recently published report on the global tobacco “pandemic” discounts the impact of harm reduction and vaping, according to Michael Landl, director of the World Vapers’ Alliance
“While filled with biased anti-vaping scaremongering and unfounded claims, the report’s overall direction is perplexing. Instead of prioritizing the crucial goal of reducing smoking rates, the WHO is directing its focus on vaping, which happens to be the most potent smoking cessation tool available.”
In the report’s foreword, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus asserts that vaping would undermine anti-smoking efforts, claiming that e-cigarettes are harmful to both the people using them and those around them.
“Regrettably, the WHO appears to ignore reality and scientific evidence,” said Landl in a statement. “Countries that adopt an open and consumer-friendly approach to harm reduction products achieve significantly better results than those following WHO’s misguided path. Comparative data from Sweden and the United Kingdom demonstrate their remarkable success in reducing smoking rates, surpassing countries with a negative harm reduction approach by a wide margin.”
The WHO report also claims a gateway effect from vaping to smoking and alleges that vaping flavors target children. It further highlights that 121 countries have adopted vaping regulations, with 34 completely banning vape sales.
“The outdated and debunked theories propagated by the WHO report pose risks to public health,” said Landl. “The notion of a gateway effect from vaping to smoking lacks evidence. Furthermore, flavors are essential for adults as they play a crucial role in helping millions of smokers transition to vaping. Additionally, celebrating countries which ban a way less harmful alternative for smokers is absurd.”
According to a review of 15 studies, “a true gateway effect in youths has not yet been demonstrated,” according to Landl. Factors such as anxiety, parental smoking habits, peer attitudes and household income must be considered, he noted. Another study found that vaping is not a gateway to smoking but rather that negative circumstances in teenagers’ lives lead to risky behaviors. According to the Yale School of Public Health, vaping flavored e-cigarettes is linked to a 230 percent increase in adult smoking cessation, and a flavor ban, as suggested by the WHO, could drive five out of 10 vapers back to smoking or the black market.
“The lack of empathy for smokers and vapers, coupled with the outright denial of scientific findings, will have severe consequences for many lives,” said Landl. “The WHO seems to have lost sight of its ultimate goal – reducing smoking rates. While we all agree that teenagers should not smoke or vape, the report notes that only 45 percent of countries ban e-cigarette sales to minors, and 10 percent of countries impose no age restrictions on cigarette purchases. Why not address these real-life challenges? The WHO systematically disregards an abundance of scientific evidence supporting the benefits of vaping, not to mention the experiences of millions of vapers. Vaping is 95 percent less harmful than smoking and a more effective method to quit smoking compared to traditional products like gum and patches. Restricting or banning access to vaping will only lead to unnecessary loss of lives.”
August 1, 2023
Knowledge-Action-Change Briefing Explains COP 10

Gerry Stimson | Photo courtesy of GNF
Knowledge Action Change (KAC) has published a briefing to help policymakers, health officials and consumers better understand the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The 10th edition of this event, which normally takes place every two years, is scheduled for November in Panama.
While decisions made at the conference are likely to significantly impact tobacco companies and their customers, industry representatives and organizations advocating for access to safer nicotine products have traditionally been barred from attending the event.
As a result, tobacco harm reduction has been getting short rift at COP meetings despite the fact that the concept is an integral part of the FCTC.
“Harm reduction is explicitly named as one of three tobacco control strategies in the opening lines of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, but at present, the indications are that COP10 is unlikely to result in any decisions that support consumer access to safer nicotine products,” said KAC Director Gerry Stimson in a statement.
“Parties to the FCTC must seize the opportunity in Panama to consider evidence from countries where tobacco harm reduction is saving lives, including the U.K., New Zealand, Sweden, Norway and Japan—and ask why the WHO and its influential philanthropic funders are refusing to do the same.
“With no media present, FCTC COP meetings are shrouded in a secrecy more akin to a U.N. Security Council meeting—and in direct contrast to other COP meetings, for example those on climate change. This briefing paper gives policymakers, health officials and consumers more insight into the processes of COP10 and the opportunity to engage more fully prior to and during the event in Panama,” said Stimson
May 15, 2023
COP10 Delegates Urged to Consider Harm Reduction

Photo: lovelyday12
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Advocates’ (CAPHRA) nine member organizations have written to Framework Convention for Tobacco Control delegation heads from around the world, urging them to review the evidence that supports a tobacco harm reduction (THR) approach ahead of COP10.
With governments sending delegates to COP10 in November 2023, CAPHRA was keen to send leaders comprehensive reference material for their COP10 planning, submission writing and deliberations.
COP10 will held in Panama and is hosted by the World Health Organization’s FCTC.
‘We do this on behalf of the four million current users of safer nicotine products in the wider Asia Pacific region. As you are aware, our region bears the brunt of the harm and death from combustible and unsafe oral tobacco globally,’ said the letter.
The CAPHRA representatives reminded the health leaders that the FCTC has a mandate to pursue harm reduction as a core tobacco control policy.
“It has been known for decades that tar and carcinogens found in tobacco smoke, cause the death and disease associated with smoking, not nicotine. Research has proven that nicotine, while usually mildly addictive in the same way as caffeine, is not a health issue,” they wrote.
The letter also called on delegates to deplore FCTC’s policy to conduct COP10 sessions behind closed doors.
“Delegates to COP10 should be representing the rights and aspirations of the citizens whose taxes are paying for their attendance, who expect them to speak on their behalf, acknowledge the science underpinning the harm reduction benefits of ENDS, and maintain democratic principles,” they wrote.
The CAPHRA representatives asked countries to take into account, when making their COP10 submissions, that consumers have the right to make choices that help them avoid adverse health outcomes. What’s more, people who smoke have the right to access less harmful nicotine products as alternatives to smoking.
The evidence-based documentation was wrapped up in a recently released white paper, titled “The Subversion of Public Health: Consumer Perspectives,” which was presented by CAPHRA executive co-ordinator Nancy Loucas at the Fifth Asia Harm Reduction Forum.
December 8, 2022