The World Health Organization earlier this month called for a ban on flavored vaping products, The Hill reported.
In a December 14 press release, the WHO said countries that allow the manufacture, importation, distribution, or sale of vaping products should impose restrictive measures, including banning all flavored e-cigarettes, limiting the amount of nicotine in the products, and imposing taxes as a way to prevent an increase in vaping use and “counter nicotine addiction,” particularly among children.
The agency said urgent steps must be taken to control the use of vaping products among children and non-smokers to “minimize health harms to the population.”
The WHO claimed that the use of vaping products has not been proven effective in helping smokers quit tobacco use “at the population level,” and that emerging evidence shows “adverse population health effects” from e-cigarettes.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is quoted in the press release claiming that children have been “recruited” at an early age to use vaping products, leading to a possible early addition to nicotine. He called on countries to implement restrictions to prevent citizens, particularly young people, from taking up vaping.
According to a July study released by the CDC, just over 1 in 10 Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 vape regularly.
In a scientific statement released this summer, the American Heart Association (AHA) said using vaping products is harmful to the lungs and heart.
AHA scientific statement writing committee chair Jason Rose said in the statement that even with nicotine-free vaping products, the ingredients in e-cigarettes, particularly the flavoring agents, “carry risks associated with heart and lung diseases in animals,” according to research.
Rose said the negative impact of vaping appears in both in vitro studies and studies of individuals exposed to chemicals found in commercially available vaping products.
