Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/550310
14 tobaccoasia FRONT PAGES 卷首新闻 WHO SAID WHAT? regulations would result in a missed opportunity to radically cut the number of smokers and would have disastrous consequences. The letter further said that "these products could be among the most significant health innovations of the 21st century – perhaps saving hundreds of millions of lives." WHO is expected to review its tobacco recommendations on October 13-18 in Moscow, but its position on electronic cigarettes has been inexpli- cable to say the least. Despite mounting scientific research that confirms that e-cigarettes are not as big a threat to human health than tobacco analogs, the agency has fervently opposed them from the outset, issuing repeated warnings about the danger they represent to users. A leaked document even revealed that WHO considers e-cigarettes a "threat" that should be classified like regular cigarettes. "If the WHO gets its way and extinguishes e-cigarettes, it will not only have passed up what is clearly one of the biggest public health innovations of the last three decades that could potentially save millions of lives, but it will have abrogated its own responsibility under its own charter to empower consumers to take control of their own health, something which they are already doing themselves in their millions" emphasized Gerry Stimson, emeritus professor at the Imperial College in London and a signatory to the open letter. If WHO ignores the letter of the 53 scientists and classifies e-cigarettes as tobacco products, the signatories to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) are expected to issue strict legislative measures raising taxes and banning certain types of advertising. So far, its stance on the issue of e-ciga- rettes has proven more stringent than that of EU and US regulators. "Actually, there is evidence that e-cigarettes have positive externalities. A recent study in the journal Addiction found that e-cigarette users were more likely to give up real cigarettes. If that's true, we should be subsidizing e-ciga- rettes, not making them more expensive" Forbes reporter in a recent story called "Taxing E-Cigarettes Seems Crazy"