Early use of electronic cigarettes pushes adolescents and children to be traditional smokers in the future
71% of the world population is protected in some way with some type of anti-smoking measure. This is five times more than in 2007, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO). In total, some 5.6 billion people have some form of public health measure that acts as a shield.
This organization's report on the global tobacco epidemic, produced in collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies, focuses on protecting the public from passive consumption, noting that nearly 40% of countries now have completely smoke-free indoor public spaces..
One of the most pressing problems today is the new ways of smoking. Products that are disguised as substitutes for traditional cigarettes, which contain nicotine, which is the most addictive substance in tobacco, and have a direct impact on those who consume them the most: young people under 20 years of age..
“Electronic cigarettes, with and without nicotine, must be equated to the classic fuels and that cannot be sold anywhere”
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The WHO report warns that early consumption of electronic cigarettes can push adolescents and children to be traditional smokers in the future. The regulation of these products is much greater in developed countries. 85% of them have implemented measures to limit their use (in Spain it is a pending issue) than in developing countries, where only 40% of countries have regulations of this type.
The WHO is particularly concerned that companies that market e-cigarettes are using tactics to reach younger consumers and even children. For this reason, it calls for more measures to be taken to prevent the use of flavorings and flavorings in electronic cigarettes, something that had only been carried out by four States until 2022..
On the other hand, 22 countries have so far banned the sale of electronic cigarettes, vapers, and disposable electronic cigarettes (puffs) with nicotine, including Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay..
The report scores countries' progress on tobacco control and shows that two more countries, Mauritius and the Netherlands, have reached the best practice level across all MPOWER measures, a feat only Brazil and Turkey have achieved so far..
“These data show that slowly but surely more people are being protected from the harms of tobacco by WHO's evidence-based best practice policies,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General..
Eight countries are just one MPower policy away from joining the leaders in tobacco control: Ethiopia, Iran, Ireland, Jordan, Madagascar, Mexico, New Zealand and Spain..
Our country has yet to transpose Directive 2022/2100 that regulates various aspects of heated tobacco and that ends with some exceptions that these products enjoyed. For this, it was expected that the last Council of Ministers before the general elections would meet the deadline set by Europe and give the green light to the relevant royal decree that modifies a previous regulation (Royal Decree 579/2017)..
Experts have been demanding an update of the Comprehensive Smoking Plan for some time. It is an action guide for “that is already accepted by all scientific societies (45). You just have to pass it on to the Public Health Commission and the Interterritorial Council. It is a plan for 2021-2025 and we are already in 2023”, lamented a few days ago in this medium Andrés Zamorano, National Committee for the Prevention of Tobacco (CNPT).
Pedro Pastor, member of the National Council of the Spanish Association Against Cancer and president of the association in Cáceres, exposes the needs that come out of the legislative gap that the new forms of smoking take advantage of to reach new audiences: the youngest. “Advertising that heated tobacco or vapers generate healthier smoke is very dangerous for our society. For our children and for our grandchildren. There is already scientific evidence that shows that vapers are not harmless to health. They are addictive”.
Measures against smoking, a pending issue
In this area, there is still much to be done because 44 countries lack any of the measures established by the WHO and 53 have not yet completely banned smoking in health centers.. Meanwhile, only about half of the countries have smoke-free spaces in workplaces and hospitality..
“WHO urges all countries to apply all MPower measures at the best practice level to fight the tobacco epidemic, which kills 8.7 million people worldwide, and to roll back the tobacco and of nicotine, which exert pressure against these public health measures,” explains Ruediger Krech, director of Health Promotion at WHO..
About 1.3 million people die each year from passive consumption. All deaths are preventable. Passive smokers are at risk of dying from heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer..
This report shows that all countries, regardless of income level, can reduce demand for tobacco and save the economy billions of dollars in health care costs and productivity.
From the Netherlands, Maarten van Ooijen, its Secretary of State for Health, Wellness and Sport, explains that “civil society organisations, health experts and medical professionals are big driving forces behind everything we are achieving with respect to tobacco control in our country. Although we are making progress in reducing the prevalence and improving our tobacco control policy”. In addition, it stresses that they will continue “fighting for a smoke-free generation by 2040”.
Smoke-free public spaces are just one of the policies in the effective tobacco control package, MPower, to help countries implement the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and curb tobacco use. smoking epidemic.
Smoke-free environments help people breathe clean air, protect the public from passive consumption, motivate people to quit, denormalize smoking, and help prevent young people from starting to smoke or use e-cigarettes.
“While smoking rates have declined, tobacco remains the world's leading preventable cause of death, largely due to the tobacco industry's relentless marketing campaigns,” insists Michael R.. Bloomberg, WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries and founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies.
It is a series of interventions that puts the effort into applying the most effective reduction measures established in the WHO FCTC that have been shown to reduce tobacco consumption.. The measurements are collectively known as MPower.
These policies have been shown to save lives and reduce the costs of avoided health spending. There are six tobacco control strategies in line with the WHO FCTC to:
– Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies.
– Protect people from tobacco smoke.
– Offer help to stop using tobacco.
– Warn people about the dangers of tobacco.
– Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
– Increase taxes on tobacco.