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In an interview with EURACTIV.com, Dr. Vera Luiza da Costa, head of the secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), criticized the tobacco industry by saying that , with its campaign for electronic cigarettes, the trade "had just changed clothes while the content remains the same."
The FCTC is a United Nations treaty for tobacco control that came into effect in 2005 and has been ratified by 181 countries around the world.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Fourth International Conference on Tobacco Control in Bucharest, Dr Da Costa spoke about the progress made in implementing the treaty and highlighted the challenges ahead.
Empty arguments
With respect to e-cigarettes and other innovative tobacco products, Dr. Da Costa said they did not allow the tobacco industry to change clothes. "He now has a new outfit but the content is back to zero. The impact on teens is huge and on young people in general. See what's happening in the United States, "she said.
She added that the tobacco industry just wanted to improve its image and sat around the table as a partner. "But in reality, the goals of the tobacco industry and the public health goals are irreconcilable."
"They say now that they want to leave the cigarette market. This could be a good argument for developed European countries, but in reality, their promotion is even more aggressive in developing countries, in Asia, in Africa and in Latin American countries. So it's an empty argument.
"The discussion of damage reduction and their argument is opportunistic, because the scientific community is rather divided on the potential for harm reduction that these products could cause," she warned.
She added that there is a common scientific basis that young people who have never had access to nicotine products should not start using electronic nicotine delivery systems.
"That's what we see happening around the world."
"How can you frame the harm reduction discussion about children, who are not at risk of harm because they do not smoke?" They promote a product that has the appeal of harm reduction, but ultimately harms children and adolescents and leads to one of the world's most addictive drugs, nicotine. "
She added that governments should ban or regulate these products that reach the markets.
Referring to the United Kingdom, she said she was trying to use e-cigarettes as a potential way to help persistent smokers who could not quit.
"But what will happen in the long run remains to be seen. It is a country with a very good regulatory and oversight framework that calculates progress and ends up changing the process. "
"Comparing the UK with a developing country, which has not implemented the provisions of the treaty, the rate of smokers is low, then you bring electronic cigarettes: to reduce the damage? In this case, they will cause further harm to the country. "
She added that if countries did not want to ban such products, they should at least regulate them on the basis of the precautionary principle "in order to avoid misleading warnings and promoting products to children".
"If you allow these products to bypbad tobacco rules, they will be allowed in public places, which will help normalize and socialize tobacco use. This is a major consequence for public health, "she warned.
The implementation of the treaty
The treaty is composed of demand reduction measures, such as illustrated taxes and warnings, and supply reduction measures.
She said that Article 8 on smoking bans in closed public places is the most widely applied. On the contrary, countries are lagging behind Article 17, which concerns alternative livelihoods for tobacco cultivation.
"As demand reduction measures grow, demand declines and supply is expected to decline in the medium term as well. Demand is decreasing, so you do not have to produce as much, "Dr. Da Costa said.
According to the WHO official, the tobacco industry should be responsible for the damage it causes. "A number of governments have taken action against the tobacco industry and demanded compensation for the health care costs for which this industry is responsible," she said.
She added that some governments have also adopted a more indirect approach, allocating some of the tobacco taxes to public health initiatives and tobacco control.
"The tobacco companies should pay the costs that they force governments to badume," she said.
Taxation decreases consumption
She said that there are many examples in the world where higher taxation has resulted in a reduction in the consumption of tobacco products.
According to Dr. Da Costa, taxation is one of the provisions of the treaty that has immediate effects because "once costs increase, there is an automatic reduction in consumption, especially among young people and clbades. lower economic levels ".
Referring to the argument of the tobacco industry that taxation leads to an increase in illegal trade, she said that she was using this argument only to "abolish" taxation and urged countries to around the world to continue to increase tobacco taxes.
"In Brazil, the government has already cut taxes, as well as revenues, but the illicit tobacco trade has not diminished. Then they increased taxes, which immediately reduced consumption, increased incomes, but the illicit trade continued in the same way, "she said.
She also cited the example of Norway, where taxes have reduced consumption without increasing the illicit trade in tobacco.
"The illicit tobacco trade has other aspects. It is closely related to corruption, crime, border control, and so on. "
"With every provision of this treaty, the tobacco industry advances the argument of the illicit tobacco trade. And in the end, the tobacco industry is responsible for the illicit trade itself. He uses it to open up to new markets, to test new products in markets where they do not have an official presence, "she said.
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