Electronic Cigarettes In The News

WHO Accused of Scaremongering on Electronic Cigarette Issues

It has been all over the big news outlets in the last few days. The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for ban on indoor use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS). What is not being as widely reported is that not everyone agrees with their assessment, or that the report is once again raising questions, as to the politicisation of the WHO, private industry’s influence on its opinions, and its trustworthiness as the world’s health watchdog.

Electronic Cigarette Report Sparks Controversy

As seems to have become the norm, every new report, policy statement, and discussion of regulations, relating to E-cigs and vaping, sparks a fresh round of disagreements among the medical experts and political pundits. This WHO report, simply, continues this trend.

While some, such as Professor John Ashton of the Faculty of Public Health, applaud the report, telling a reporter from the Daily Telegraph: "Most adult smokers start smoking before the age of 18. That's why many public health experts are concerned that the advertising of electronic cigarettes could make it seem normal again to think smoking is glamorous, when it is anything but.”

He further added: “We also don't know enough yet about the harms and side effects of electronic cigarettes, and it will take years before we can be sure what they are."

Others fear that the over regulation of Electronic Cigarettes, as called for in the WHO report, will only serve to extend the reign of traditional tobacco, as one of the worlds leading cause of serious illness and death.

Gerry Stimson, from Imperial College London, was quoted by The Times as saying: "What is needed is light-touch regulation and a proper appreciation of trade-offs between regulation to protect consumers whilst not destroying the value these products offer to smokers who want to use them as they quit smoking".

He later in the same interview went on to level this charge against the World Health Organization: "The WHO position paper appears to have cherry-picked the science, used unnecessary scaremongering and misleading language about the effects of nicotine."

WHO Under Fire over Influence Peddling Suspicion

This is not the first time that such charges, have been made against the UN sanctioned organisation. In fact, more and more often, WHO edicts and recommendations have drawn fire from scientific, medical, and diplomatic quarters, for seeming to have been tailored for the political gain of its monetary supporters.

These criticisms haven’t been limited to the subject of electronic cigarettes. In fact, ENDS are just the latest subject for which the WHO has come under scrutiny. Just a few of the others include GMO foods, MSG, Generic Drugs, Aspartame, Malaria research, and the sugar content of foods and drinks.

As one Brazilian Ambassador to the UN stated: “It would seem that, some counties are trying to disguise trade and commercial interests under public health,” and as a mid-level WHO official stated in an Asian Times report when talking about, the late, Dr. Lee Jong-Wook, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General: “ Lee blatantly bent to US government pressure in March when he made the controversial decision to recall the WHO country representative to Thailand, William Aldis, who had served less than 16 months in what traditionally has been a four-year or longer posting.”

Follow the Money

Considering that the majority, of the World Health Organizations 4 billion U.S Dollar, budget is derived from voluntary donations. Those donations, coming from both individual governments and philanthropic organisations, and it is not surprising that they would feel a certain amount of pressure to protect their own purse strings.

Whether this pressure is directly applied or only subconsciously felt, it is raising concerns even among the WHOs own personnel with one scientist, Arata Kochi, complaining to the Director General about funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, stating it was having: "far-reaching, largely unintended consequences." And going on to opine that: “getting independent reviews of research proposals is becoming increasingly difficult."

Lacking Impact

Taking into consideration its number of recent faux pas as well as the questions that have been raised as to the amount of influence that private interest have on the organisation, and it is not surprising that its report on electronic cigarettes, has once again stirred debate. Nor is it surprising that, other than providing more fodder for the talking heads, it has actually had little to no impact on projected government policies or greatly raised industry concerns.