An inquiry issued by the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vaping Inquiry (APPG) criticized anti-vaping groups funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, for striving to stunt tobacco harm reduction (THR) strategies in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).
In line with arguments by several other tobacco harm reduction advocates, the publication highlights said these anti-vaping “civil society observers” have been allowed to participate in the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Conference of the Parties 9 (FCTC COP 9).
The APPG warned about the participation of The Union, a group funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, as well as other anti-vaping non-government organizations in the upcoming FCTC COP 9 meeting taking place in November. The report says that sadly the WHO continues to attempt to discredit UK’s science and policy approach to address the smoking problem, despite the data indicating its success.
“The majority of NGOs listed as ‘Observers’ are hostile to the concept of tobacco harm reduction and thus the UK’s policy approach. For instance, ‘The Union’ has advocated a complete ban on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products in low and middle-income countries, which are home to 80 percent of the world’s smokers,” the APPG said in the report.
Diane Caruana – VapingPost – 2021-08-20.
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