about the reduced risk of electronic cigarettes compared to combustion tobacco.
According to scientific estimates,
E-cigarettes are up to 95 percent less harmful than tobacco cigarettes. This is proven by studies that were summarized in a positive report on e-cigarettes by the British government agency Public Health England.
[Before I switched to e-cigarettes, I smoked up to 30 cigarettes a day for 15 years. With this tour, we want to concretely show that by switching to vaping, someone like me can normalize their health, change their lifestyle and successfully exercise," says one of the riders, e-cigarette entrepreneur Umberto Roccatti.
Visit to the WHO in Geneva
Background: To this day, the WHO has closed its eyes to the topic of tobacco harm reduction. Millions of smokers could be helped by modernizing global tobacco control policies. Positive examples come from countries such as Great Britain, which have been recommending e-cigarettes as an alternative to smoking to smokers for a number of years. As a result, the smoking rate in the UK has fallen to one of the lowest levels in Europe within just a few years.
[WHO needs to rethink and recognize the potential of e-cigarettes to reduce global smoking rates. Especially in poorer countries we register particularly high smoking rates. Ignoring e-cigarettes means leaving people to their own devices", says Roccatti, who is also president of Italy`s e-cigarette association ANAFE and vice-president of Europe`s Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA).
Important decisions in the EU
In the coming years, important decisions on the further regulation of e-cigarettes will have to be made in the EU. The European Parliament recently approved the draft report on fighting cancer. It explicitly states that the e-cigarette can be a harm reduction tool and help smokers quit.
A very important step in the right direction for Roccatti: [There are more and more political deciders who have understood the issue of harm reduction. This is also ensured by scientific studies that underline the potential of the e-cigarette. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure that politicians are informed about the evidence on e-cigarettes and can make decisions on this basis in the interests of the population."
He also points out that the regulation of e-cigarettes should not be carried out in the same way as tobacco cigarettes, as has been the case up to now. The significantly reduced harmfulness of e-cigarette vapor compared to tobacco smoke should result in a regulatory differentiation between tobacco and e-cigarettes. [The e-cigarette is a different, much lower-risk product. This is a scientific fact. E-cigarettes must remain an attractive alternative for smokers. In the case of tobacco, stricter restrictions make sense due to the high level of harmfulness. E-cigarettes should be regulated primarily on the basis of the significantly lower risk potential."
- Photo: Romain Blu/Unsplash
Roccatti pointed out the importance of moderate regulation of e-cigarettes. Vaping must also be a financial alternative, especially for economically weaker groups with a high proportion of smokers. This would be the only way to achieve the goal set by the EU of reducing the smoking rate in Europe to 5 percent by 2040.
