WHO Under Criticism from CAPHRA

We recently reported on the progress of the World Health Organisation’s COP10 meeting. The event was arranged to try and establish a set of global regulations and/or recommendations on vaping.

After several upheavals, the COP10 conference took place in January 2024. Unfortunately, issues regarding candidate safety, anonymity of research papers, and the exclusion of vaping stakeholders have marred the conference.

In the most recent development, the CAPHRA (the Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates) have called the actions of WHO ‘suspicious.’ 

This timeline of events should relate the story so far.

The COP10 conference was initially criticized by vape campaigners regarding the anonymous nature of the materials provided. Documentation supplied to the attendees contained wild and presumptuous statements about vaping with no scientific backup. The submitted document was signed ‘anonymous,’ leading to questions over the sanctity of the sources.

The COP10 conference hit the news a second time when it was cancelled over fears of candidate safety while they were in Panama, the host country. The conference was moved to January 2024 and has subsequently taken place.

The newest item to place the whole COP10 conference in the firing line came when the world Health Organisation chose not to include either consumers or traders in the conference. Organisations such as the UKVIA were notable absent from the global debate.

In the most recent update, the coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates have thrown suspicion into the mix. Describing WHO and the FCTC’s behaviour as an “exclusionary approach,” a spokesperson from CAPHRA told news sources the latest exclusionary behaviour was consistent with the FCTC’s ongoing refusal to engage in evidence based dialogue on tobacco harm reduction.

This emphasises the link between quitting smoking and using less harmful vape devices. The modern fear is that the proposed ban on disposables within the UK, and regulatory design without true democracy from WHO and the FCTC, will lead to millions of smokers failing to quit due to misrepresentation of vape devices.

Accusing the recent COP10 conference of further skewing the narrative, sources from CAPHRA said that organisers were attempting to bully nations into prohibition without the backup of scientific evidence.

As a result, CAPHRA are urging governing bodies to call upon organisations like WHO and the FCTC to adopt an evidence based approach to their formal advice. When it comes to public health, this is the least we can expect.

VapeDirect.com will be here as the story unfolds, reporting updates as we find them. In the meantime, check in regularly to stay ahead of all your vaping news.