Consumer groups urge inclusivity in fight for smoke-free society

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CONSUMER groups have urged the World Health Organization to include smokers, vapers and the tobacco industry in its quest to end the global smoking problem.

“The WHO tends to just attack the industry, which is a black-and-white thing for them,” said Martin Cullip, an international fellow at The Taxpayers Protection Alliance’s (TPA) Consumer Center. “But they don’t look at the complexities behind what they’re doing. And in attacking industry, they’re forgetting the people underneath who are affected.”

Cullip is among the tobacco harm reduction experts who gathered for the Good COP (Conference of the People) to discuss consumer issues, national and global policies and the science surrounding harm reduction in Panama recently.

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The event, coinciding with the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) convened by the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), was hosted by the TPA under the name “Good COP/Bad COP.”

Cullip led a panel that discussed how WHO policies deter the use of tobacco harm-reduction products and become counterproductive in helping reduce smoking rates among adults. He noted that while the FCTC welcomed 225 Bloomberg-funded personnel to attend the COP 10, consumers were not allowed to join.

Jeffrey Zamora, president of Asovape Costa Rica and board member of ARDT Iberoamerica, said the WHO left behind many who needed help. “There’s a lot of populations that they are leaving behind,” he said. “For example, the people living with neurodiversity, people with bipolar disorders or people living with psychosis who are smoking. They have a 40-percent to 90-percent smoking prevalence.”

Mark Oates, director at WeVapeUK and founder of the Snus Foundation, said the WHO global conference also differed from other global treaties because they excluded the people most affected by the main problem.

“If we compare that to COP process for the environment, they bring in the people who are most affected by climate change,” Oates said. “And they also bring a lot of other stakeholders to try and work out how they can solve the issue. But with FCTC, the very people it is supposed to help are ignored, dismissed and not even allowed to attend. So there’s a big problem with inclusivity that needs to change. And they need to get back on the first principle, the first purpose which is saving individual lives.”

Maria Papaioannoy-Duic, co-owner of Ecig Flavourium and a leader with Vapor Advocates of Ontario, said the WHO also lost its compassion for smokers. “What they forgot is the amount of stigmatization that happens,” she said.

“I think what is most forgotten is that we all have the same thing in common,” she added. “We want to eradicate tobacco-related illness. And I think they’ve lost track of that message or that message has been mutated, because they just want to win.”

Cullip agreed, saying the FCTC seems to scorn vapers and smokers.  “They seem to consider vapers and smokers as some sort of subhuman creatures or something,” he said.

“They should respect the science more. Just attacking the industry is too simplistic. They need to realize that by doing that, they’re protecting the cigarette trade. They’ve got to stop bullying people and treat smokers and vapers as human beings. And they need to develop a set of ethics,” said Cullip.

“They should realize it’s futile trying to eradicate nicotine. You know, they have to understand that nicotine is a drug that’s been used for 12,000 years. They would never get rid of it,” said Cullip.

In a statement, Anton Israel, president of the Nicotine Consumers Union of the Philippines (NCUP), shared Cullip’s observation, saying while it is impossible to stop nicotine consumption, the WHO can reduce the harm from smoking by allowing the use of less harmful alternatives.

“Nicotine consumers also have rights that the WHO FCTC should recognize.  Nicotine is not the problem, but the way it is delivered through combustion.  Thanks to smoke-free products, consumers can get rid of the harm from smoke,” said Israel.

Consumer groups want the WHO to acknowledge the merits of tobacco harm reduction which is enshrined in the global treaty, along with supply and demand reduction.  Tobacco harm reduction refers to the use of less harmful alternatives to cigarettes to help smokers.

Joey Dulay, president of the Philippine E-Cigarette Industry Association (PECIA), said THR products such as vapes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches have helped millions of adult smokers quit.

“No less than the Office of Health Improvement Disparities, the highest health authority in the UK, reported in September 2022 that vaping poses just a tiny fraction of the harm of smoking,” said Dulay.

“We should include these smoke-free products in our public health policies to help smokers and consumers, not alienate them,” said Dulay.

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