WHO Reaffirms Its Opposition to E-Cigarettes
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that while progress has been made in combating tobacco use, marketing e-cigarettes to young people could have harmful health consequences. Ghebreyesus issued the warning in a statement released alongsid
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated that while progress has been made in combating tobacco use, marketing e-cigarettes to young people may have harmful health consequences.
Ghebreyesus issued a warning in a statement while releasing the "WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2021," the eighth study by the UN public health agency aimed at measuring progress in curbing the global sale of tobacco and nicotine products.
While the report found that the number of people covered by WHO-recommended tobacco control measures is more than four times that of 2007, it expressed concern that the use of "electronic nicotine delivery systems, such as e-cigarettes" among children is "up to three times higher," making them more likely to use tobacco products in the future."
"Nicotine is highly addictive. Electronic nicotine delivery systems are harmful and must be better regulated," said Tedros.
He continued to argue that where e-cigarettes are not banned, "governments should adopt appropriate policies to protect their people from the harms of electronic nicotine delivery systems and prevent children, adolescents, and other vulnerable groups from using e-cigarettes."
Tobacco harm reduction advocates and representatives from the e-cigarette industry condemned the WHO report as "absurd and dangerous."
John Dunne, WHO Director-General, stated: "The WHO has long taken an anti-e-cigarette stance, and this latest attack on an industry that is actually saving millions of lives worldwide seems weak in the face of scientific evidence, common sense, and harm reduction."
Epidemiology professor John Britton said: "This report shows that, unfortunately, the WHO still does not understand the fundamental difference between smoking addiction, which causes millions of deaths each year, and nicotine addiction, which does not." at the University of Nottingham.
"The WHO is clearly satisfied with taking a stance that recommends using medicinal nicotine products to treat smoking addiction while advocating for a ban on nicotine products that have the same effect but are more effective."
Derek Yach, president of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, stated that the WHO's comments are "fundamentally flawed." "The abnormal growth of next-generation devices presents a real opportunity for the WHO to address combustible consumption once and for all," he said.
"Over 100 million quitters use low-risk products, and the WHO should leverage the massive investment in this industry to encourage governments to provide incentive-based regulatory frameworks for greater expansion."
Member of Parliament David Jones, part of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health in the UK, described the WHO's opposition to all smoking alternatives (not just e-cigarettes) as "strange."
"Our advice remains that smokers should switch completely to e-cigarettes," he said. "However, the WHO does not agree with this view and has long been waging an almost pathological campaign against e-cigarettes."
Related Articles
Vaping News
Ahead of a Nationwide Ban, Hundreds of Russian Retailers Voluntarily Stop Selling Vapes
2026-04-16
Vaping News
Illegal Vape Brands Try to Evade FDA Scrutiny by Posing as “Made in the USA”
2026-04-08
Vaping News
Jordan’s New Tobacco Control Rules: Waterpipe Tobacco Market Set for Major Changes
2026-03-17