Experts have tasked the World Health Organisation (WHO) to ensure its approach to tobacco control is driven by data that are science-based, adopts reason and respect for humanism.
Speaking at a webinar on “Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: Challenges and Prospects for WHO”, panelists who are experts in diverse fields, advocated a change in health policy that will favour smokers using evidence-based approaches.
The panelists comprised of Riccardo Polosa a professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Catania and founder of CoEHAR, Research Center for Harm Reduction from Smoking; David Sweanor of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics of the University of Ottawa; Maria Alejandra Median, coordinator of Corporación Acción Técnica Social, Colombia, and Anders Milton former chair of the World Medical Association.
One of the panelists, David Sweanor frowned at WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC’s) approach, especially its opposition to tobacco harm reduction and insisted that it is being driven by people who are ill-informed about the real issues as far as harm associated with tobacco is concerned.
He said it is difficult to rationalize WHO’s opposition to tobacco harm reduction after accepting the same in every other area of human health.
While harping on the need for public health authorities to maintain credibility, Sweanor noted that those running the WHO FCTC behave more like political, moral and religious police instead of allowing their actions to be driven by public health principles.
For his part, Ricardo Polosa said with 80-90 percent of alternative tobacco products being less toxic in comparison to combustibles, there is clearly a solution to reducing tobacco risk but regretted that the world seems to be completely blindfolded.
Polosa noted that it was essential for tobacco control policies to respect human rights and take into account the integration of the principles of risk reduction by adopting alternative products.
“It is crucial to adopt robust and sustainable policies that will take us away from the harms caused by combustible tobacco” he added.
Also speaking during the over one-hour webinar, Maria Alejandra Medina faulted FCTC for being unwilling to tell the difference between nicotine and tobacco while also fueling misinformation about alternative products.
“There is fake news in Brazil, Argentina, Panama among others about alternative tobacco products” she said, adding that FCTC hides too much evidence and is gearing towards prohibitionists’ measures that would adversely affect consumers of tobacco.
According to Medina, the current tobacco policies are creating more harm. She however noted that “there is no possibility of a nicotine-free world so there must be a change of approach to include embracing alternative products”.
Among the panelists is Anders Milton who noted that WHO wants to forbid everything about cigarettes noting “and that is a wrong way to go” even as he insisted that there has to be emphasis on harm reduction.
He charged public health authorities to be guided by truth, be persistent and always use scientific evidence to give smokers alternatives.
One of the key take-aways from the webinar is that there is the need for tobacco control policies that will favour smokers using evidence-based approaches.