© Unsplash。 E-cigarettes heat the liquid, and the smoker inhales the resulting aerosol into the lungs.
The World Health Organization said today that e-cigarettes, as a consumer product, have not shown effective smoking cessation at the population level. On the contrary, some evidence suggests that it can adversely affect the health of the population, which is worrying. Urgent action is needed to control e-cigarettes to protect children and non-smokers and minimize health hazards to the population.
E-cigarettes containing nicotine are highly addictive and harmful to health. While the long-term health effects are not fully understood, it is established that they produce toxic substances, some of which are known to cause cancer, and some of which increase the risk of heart and lung disease.
The use of e-cigarettes can also affect brain development, leading to learning Xi disorders in adolescents. Fetal exposure to e-cigarettes can adversely affect fetal development in the pregnant woman's body. People who are exposed to e-cigarette emissions are also at risk.
The use of e-cigarettes among children has grown at an alarming rate
E-cigarettes are allowed to be sold in the open market and actively marketed to young people. Currently, 34 countries have banned the sale of e-cigarettes, 88 countries have no minimum age to buy e-cigarettes, and 74 countries do not have regulations on these harmful products.
E-cigarettes come in at least 16,000 flavors, targeting children through social media and influencers. Some of these products use cartoon characters and have stylish designs that appeal to the younger generation. In many countries, the use of e-cigarettes among children and adolescents is growing at an alarming rate, even outpacing adult use.
In all WHO regions, children aged 13-15 years use e-cigarettes at higher rates than adults. For example, in Canada, e-cigarette use among 16-19-year-olds doubled between 2017 and 2022, and in England, UK, the number of young people among e-cigarette users has tripled in the past three years.
Even brief exposure to vaping content on social media can lead to an increased willingness to use these products and a more positive attitude towards vaping. Studies consistently show that young people who use e-cigarettes are almost three times more likely to use cigarettes later in life than the general population.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "Children are recruited and tricked into using e-cigarettes at a very young age and may become addicted to nicotine. I urge States to take drastic measures to prevent vaping in order to protect their citizens, especially children and adolescents. ”
WHO photo. E-cigarettes
Urgent measures must be taken
WHO notes the need for urgent measures to prevent vaping and address nicotine addiction, as well as a comprehensive approach to tobacco control, in line with national circumstances.
- In countries where the sale of e-cigarettes has been banned, strengthen the implementation of bans and continue monitoring and surveillance to support public health interventions and ensure strong enforcement;
- In countries that allow the commercialization (sale, import, distribution, and manufacture) of e-cigarettes as consumer products, ensure strict regulation to make them less appealing and reduce harm to the population, including banning various flavors, limiting the concentration and quality of nicotine, and imposing taxes.
WHO says smoking cessation strategies should be based on the best available evidence of efficacy, integrated with other tobacco control measures, and monitored and evaluated. Based on current evidence, it is not recommended that the government allow e-cigarettes to be sold as consumer products in pursuit of smoking cessation goals.
Any government that uses e-cigarettes to implement a smoking cessation strategy should control the conditions under which the product is used to ensure that it has an appropriate clinical condition and that the product is regulated as a drug (including requiring marketing authorization as a drug). The decision to pursue a smoking cessation goal, even in this controlled form, should be made after considering the national context, the risks of smoking, and exhaustion of other proven cessation strategies.
The tobacco industry profites from the destruction of health and uses these new products to take a seat at the government's decision-making table, lobbying against health policies. WHO is concerned that the tobacco industry funds and promotes perjury claiming that these products reduce harm, while on the other hand, it aggressively markets these products to children and non-smokers and continues to sell billions of cigarettes.
Based on the growing body of evidence on e-cigarette use and its health hazards in children and adolescents, strong and decisive action is needed to prevent e-vaping.