ETHRA’s monthly roundup of news: Belgium & Spain, experts weigh in - Prohibition fuelling black market - MEPs debate THR - SOVAPE survey - The substitution effect - The Manila Declaration 2022 - Country updates. Read on for more.
Contents:
European Commission work program
The European Commission's work program for 2023 has been published. In the area of health the program includes an update of the Smokefree Environments Recommendation. The current Recommendation does not apply to non-combustible safer nicotine products, however, that could be about to change. In July, we participated in the Commission's call for evidence consultation which had the aim of extending recommendations on smoke-free environments to include vaping and heated tobacco products.
Read ETHRA’s submission:
https://ethra.co/submissions/113-smoke-free-environments-updated-recommendation
Commission Program main page:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy-documents/commission-work-programme_en
Work program:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/com_2022_548_3_en.pdf
The Manila Declaration - 2022
At the 5th Asia Harm Reduction Forum leading tobacco harm reduction advocates signed and released "The Manila Declaration - 2022." The Declaration states: "We, the consumers of safer nicotine products and those adults who currently smoke, ought to be the principal beneficiaries of enlightened, science-based regulatory frameworks allowing us access to these life-saving technologies."
Read more here:
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1187405
See the Declaration:
https://caphraorg.net/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/manila-declaration-2022-signed.pdf
Belgium
ETHRA wrote to the Belgian government to highlight the important role safer nicotine products can play in its upcoming inter-federal strategy for a smoke free generation. The letter was co-signed by 19 independent experts in tobacco and nicotine science and policy.
Read our letter here:
https://ethra.co/images/ETHRA_letter_to_the_Belgian_Government_Final.pdf
Finland
Finland is experiencing a growing black market for disposable vapes and a surge in youth vaping which is almost certainly the result of its prohibitionist policies.
France
Misperceptions of the relative risks of vaping compared to smoking remain worryingly high according to a new survey conducted by Sovape.
Read more here:
https://www.sovape.fr/vapoter-ou-fumer-le-doute-sinstalle-durablement-dans-lesprit-des-francais-sondage-bva-pour-sovape/
Germany
Seminal new report from the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) finds that nicotine pouches are considerably less harmful than combustible tobacco and may aid smoking cessation.
Read more here:
https://tobaccoreporter.com/2022/10/13/german-risk-assessment-institute-pouches-safer-than-smoking/
Read the health assessment (German):
https://www.bfr.bund.de/cm/343/gesundheitliche-bewertung-von-nikotinbeuteln-nikotinpouches.pdf
Netherlands
Senior researcher and physicist, Professor Roberto Sussman, has called the government’s plan to ban flavours reckless and disproportionate.
Read more here:
https://www.planetofthevapes.co.uk/news/vaping-news/2022-10-19_physicist-slams-dutch-proposals.html
Norway
The use of snus has led to dramatic declines in smoking among young people and adults.
Read more here:
https://www.nyasatimes.com/smoking-initiation-in-norway-among-young-people-is-below-2-and-regular-smokers-approximately-9-of-its-population/
Spain
170 national and international experts wrote to Spanish public health officials calling for the adoption of tobacco harm reduction in tobacco control policies.
Read the letter in English:
https://clivebates.com/a-powerful-declaration-makes-a-compelling-case-for-tobacco-harm-reduction/
Read the letter in Spanish:
https://clivebates.com/documents/SpainInternationalLetterOct2022ES.pdf
UK
The New Nicotine Alliance wrote to the Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care to detail "twenty concrete measures with five quick wins that could be taken to bring on a rapid decline in smoking"
Read more here:
https://nnalliance.org/nnanews/news/378-nna-writes-to-the-secretary-of-state-for-health
EU Nicotine Users Survey
Two years ago this month we launched what turned out to be the largest survey of its kind in Europe. Receiving over 37,000 responses from consumers of nicotine products we gained an insight into what products people used, what health effects people experienced, and how people would react to potential legislative changes.
The report is available in English, French, and German:
https://ethra.co/eu-survey
The substitution effect
A new study examining national sales trends has found strong evidence that vaping is displacing smoking at the population level.
Read more here:
https://www.qeios.com/read/GM2450
Smoking prevalence declines faster than expected where vaping products are widely available.
Read more here:
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-022-14341-z
What doctors need to know about vaping
Australia: Misinformation about vaping discourages doctors from supporting vaping and prescribing nicotine. A new paper aims to correct those misperceptions.
The benefits of vaping
Leading UK experts set the record straight on vaping misinformation.
Read more here:
https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/commentisfree/2022/oct/23/letters-break-silence-on-child-abuse#the-benefits-of-vaping
Something to watch:
Nicotine and Society: Ahead of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD3)
The Brussels Times hosted an in depth discussion on new nicotine products. Current and former MEPs gave their opinions on tobacco harm reduction and the TPD.
