Tag: Vaping

Health Experts Warn WHO Against Full Tobacco Ban and Call for Balanced Regulation

Healthtimes

By Munyaradzi Blessing Doma For decades, global public health experts have agreed on one thing: banning a dangerous substance rarely eliminates its use. It often pushes the trade underground, where governments lose visibility and control. Regulation, however, gives policymakers room to monitor, manage and gradually reduce harm. This tension now sits at the center of a growing global debate. As the World Health Organization (WHO) considers tightening international controls on tobacco production under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), major tobacco-producing economies fear that sweeping restrictions could trigger economic…

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Experts Criticize WHO for Ignoring Evidence on Safer Smoking Alternatives

Healthtimes

By Munyaradzi Blessing Doma The Conference of the Parties (COP) of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) has been ignoring emerging scientific evidence on tobacco harm reduction. Experts say the organisation continues to enforce restrictions that are not fit for purpose, while global smoking rates remain high. Tobacco harm reduction refers to the use of safer alternatives to cigarettes, including e-cigarettes, vapes, heat-not-burn products, pouches, and snus. These products are designed to provide nicotine with fewer health risks than traditional smoking. Critics argue that COP…

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WHO Clings to Outdated Dogma

Healthtimes

By Munyaradzi Blessing Doma  When it came into effect in 2005, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was hailed as a landmark global health treaty. Two decades later, however, health experts say the treaty has largely failed to deliver on its promise to significantly reduce global smoking rates. The FCTC urged governments to adopt taxation, advertising bans, and other restrictive measures to curb smoking. Yet, despite widespread adoption, global tobacco use remains stubbornly high. Studies indicate that the FCTC has struggled to keep pace with…

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Getting Tough On Vaping Drives People Into Smoking Combustible Tobacco

Michael Gwarisa

Despite the massive crackdown on smoking in the form of bans and taxes, coupled with well-coordinated misinformation around emerging Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) alternatives, World Health Organisation (WHO) data shows that at least 8 million smokers continue to die from smoking-related diseases on an annual basis while one million non-smokers who are exposed to second-hand smoke also die from passive smoking. By Michael Gwarisa Overall smoking rates in Africa remain low by international comparisons, with a prevalence of 8.4 percent across the continent. While smoking prevalence is relatively low on…

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In The Absence Of National Regulation For Vapour Products, Youth Access Prevention Must Be Self-Policed

Healthtimes

PRETORIA, South Africa, 13 February 2023 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/- Be it social media, the news, or your community WhatsApp group, there has been no shortage of commentary about the apparent escalation of vaping among teenagers. In a market sector largely unregulated in South Africa, it is seemingly too easy for teenagers to access Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems/Electronic Non-Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS/ENNDS) also known as Electronic Vapour Products (EVPs). By Staff Reporter “The concern that young people are easily able to access these products is completely valid,” says Asanda Gcoyi, Chief Executive of…

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Facing The Elephant In The Room: How Disinformation Is Standing In The Way Of Tobacco Harm Reduction

Michael Gwarisa

The American Centre for Disease Control (CDC) defines harm reduction as any behaviour or strategy that helps reduce risk or harm to yourself or others. For almost every societal problem, there are available harm reduction options. For example, to reduce the risk of contracting or transmitting HIV, one needs to practice safer sex or safer drug use. By Michael Gwarisa Since the year 2006, there has been exponential expansion of interest in Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) after the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) became the first American scientific…

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Phillip Morris & Swedish Match Amongst Leading Tobacco Companies Advancing Tobacco Harm Reduction- Tobacco Transformation Index Finds

Michael Gwarisa

THE first Tobacco Transformation Index released this week and made possible with funding from the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, finds that most of the 15 largest tobacco companies are not making substantive progress in phasing out cigarettes and other high-risk tobacco products and transitioning smokers to reduced-risk alternatives. By Michael Gwarisa A small group of companies have made public commitments to harm reduction and backed them with significant investments. A majority of companies have made no such commitment to tobacco harm reduction. With 1.3 billion tobacco users in the…

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