The World Health Organization’s reputation took another big hit at a conference in London earlier this month that discussed global vaping policy.
The E-cigarette Summit featured a keynote address by Professor Robert Beaglehole. As well as being emeritus professor of public health at the University of Auckland, he was formerly director of the Department of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion at the WHO.
Deeply critical of the WHO’s opposition to tobacco harm reduction, his speech was all the more pointed considering his WHO past.
He argued that saving millions of smokers’ lives through a “smoke-free world” depends on the availability of safer alternatives to smoking, such as vapes—not on aiming for a nicotine-free world, as the WHO would like.
In his keynote, Beaglehole took aim at the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) treaty, highlighting that its failure to achieve success is because of its unrealistic drive for nicotine abstinence and a stubborn resistance to embracing less harmful products.
Martin Cullip – Filter – 2021-12-20.
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