August 2021 Newsletter

The August 2021 issue focuses on the World Health Organization’s approach to tobacco harm reduction and safer nicotine alternatives. The lead article reports that the FCTC decided to delay substantive discussions on novel and emerging tobacco products until COP10 in 2023. The newsletter presents this as a missed opportunity at a time when smoking continues to cause millions of deaths every year.

The issue argues that the WHO’s tobacco control approach has not delivered enough progress in reducing tobacco consumption. It says that traditional measures such as taxation, warnings, and restrictions are not enough when many smokers still lack practical cessation support and access to less harmful alternatives.

The newsletter also criticizes the WHO’s 2021 report on the global tobacco epidemic, saying it fails to give proper attention to tobacco harm reduction and presents e-cigarettes mainly as a threat rather than a possible tool for adult smokers who want to quit combustible cigarettes.

Other sections discuss whether the WHO deserves criticism for opposing harm reduction, a legal challenge by Spain’s e-cigarette industry against an anti-vaping campaign, and a personal story from Pakistan in which vaping helped a smoker quit cigarettes.

• The newsletter reports that WHO/FCTC delayed serious discussion on safer nicotine alternatives until COP10 in 2023.
• The issue argues that this delay comes despite millions of annual smoking-related deaths.
• Experts criticized WHO for ignoring evidence on vaping and other low-risk nicotine alternatives.
• Dr. Derek Yach described WHO’s tobacco control approach as fundamentally flawed.
• The newsletter says traditional tobacco control measures have not made enough progress in the last 20 years.
• It calls for practical harm reduction strategies and better regulatory frameworks.
• The issue criticizes WHO’s 2021 tobacco epidemic report for dismissing tobacco harm reduction.
• It discusses whether WHO deserves the “Dirty Ashtray Award” for opposing harm reduction.
• Spain’s e-cigarette industry association sued the government over an anti-vaping campaign.
• The newsletter includes a Pakistani smoker’s story showing how vaping helped him quit cigarettes.