The EU Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) final opinion on e-cigarettes is a step backwards for vaping and for public health. It is based on weak data, ignores crucial scientific evidence and experience from consumers, and has been designed in such a way that it ignores vaping’s biggest strength – its power to reduce the harm from smoking.
Last year, SCHEER was appointed by the European Commission to produce a report on vaping and its health impacts. Their preliminary report, released in September, was met with widespread criticism from scientists, public health experts and vapers. Riddled with old data, cherry picked studies and a general lack of knowledge about vaping, it painted a bleak picture.
The reaction from scientists and consumers was huge. 691 formal submissions were made in response to the preliminary report. Renowned public health expert Clive Bates set out a list of 11 flaws in the report. These included the failure to compare vaping with tobacco cigarettes and other benchmarks, ignoring and selectively interpreting evidence, and a complete absence of policy impact research. The overall message was clear – the preliminary had really very little scientific value.
The Brussels Times – 2021-05-06.
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