Latest news with #WorldVapersAlliance
Zawya
17-07-2025
- Health
- Zawya
South Africa: Committee on Health Receives Inputs on Tobacco Bill from Lesedi Black Business Forum and World Vapers Alliance
The Portfolio Committee on Health has received briefings from the Lesedi Black Business Forum (LBBF) and the World Vapers Alliance (WVA) on the Tobacco and Electronic Delivery System Control Bill. The LBBF supported the objectives of the Bill but called for a balance between public health and economic considerations. It said it has interacted with the Department of Health, via an online workshop organised by the department in 2020 but the LBBF is disappointed that the issues it raised in that workshop are not reflected in the final draft Bill submitted to Parliament. On regulation, it said it supports efforts to reduce smoking in South Africa. Mr Lobi of the LBBF said a smarter, more practical approach is required to achieve the Bill's goal while avoiding harm to communities and businesses in the process. He urged the government to focus more on stopping the out-of-control illicit tobacco trade, which harms young people and the poor the most. The LBBF said the government should work on preventing young people from smoking by using behavioural and educational programmes, as was done in the past with HIV/Aids awareness campaigns, for instance. These programmes are key to finding a lasting solution to reducing smoking. Mr Lobi said: 'We have a problem with the criminalisation of smokers. Treating smokers as criminals is unfair and ineffective, and we encourage a more supportive approach to help them quit.' The LBBF emphasised that in their local municipality, tobacco manufacturing is an anchor industry but it is being jeopardised by the Bill, should it be adopted as it is. Mr Lobi added: 'Beyond specific Lesedi consideration, the Bill fails to account for the commercial interests of small traders that dot the South African landscape due to lack of employment opportunities.' The WVA is concerned that the Bill equates vaping with smoking. Provisions such as flavour bans, advertising restrictions, plain packaging and public use bans exacerbate the situation. Overregulation may drive consumers back to smoking or the illicit market. Notably, WVA said the Bill fails to acknowledge vaping as a tool for harm reduction. The WVA in its briefing submitted evidence from Sweden, demonstrating a remarkable 55% decline in smoking rates over the past decade. Committee chairperson Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo said inputs made during the public engagement process will be taken into consideration and applied when the committee starts its deliberation on the Bill after consultations with the public are completed. The objective of the Bill is to strengthen public health protection measures, align South African tobacco control law with the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and repeal the Tobacco Control Act of 1993 and its amendments. Key provisions in the Bill include the introduction of 100 percent smoke-free indoor public places and certain outdoor areas; a ban on the sale of cigarettes through vending machines; the implementation of plain packaging with graphic health warnings; a ban on the display of products at points of sale; and the regulation and control of electronic nicotine delivery systems and non-nicotine delivery systems. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
EU's Champions League: Sweden, Czech Republic, and Greece Score Big Against Smoking
WVA's trophy ceremony in front of the European Parliament BRUSSELS, Belgium, July 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brussels turned into a Champions League arena for harm reduction as the World Vapers' Alliance (WVA) staged a trophy ceremony in front of the European Parliament, celebrating the real winners in the fight against smoking. Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Greece took centre stage, hoisting the 'Champions of Change' trophy for their remarkable victories in reducing smoking rates—while EU policymakers watched from the sidelines. 'Brussels is obsessed with prohibition and ignores the evidence right in front of them. Lives are being lost because the EU refuses to follow the science,' said WVA Director Michael Landl as he handed over the trophies. 'Instead of learning from countries that are saving lives, the EU is making life harder for smokers who want to quit.' Sweden claimed the top spot, becoming the world's first officially smoke-free nation with just 4.5% of Swedish-born adults smoking—a rate five times lower than the European average and achieved 16 years ahead of the EU's own target. The Czech Republic and Greece also took home silverware, having cut smoking rates by 23% and 14% respectively in the last three years through pragmatic, harm reduction-focused strategies. But while the champions celebrated on the podium, EU leaders remained stuck in the locker room. Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, ahead of Ireland's EU Council Presidency next year, outrageously claimed that vaping is as bad as the smoking phenomenon—signalling a worrying direction for future policy. WVA Policy Manager Alberto Gómez Hernández warned, 'The EU's refusal to recognise these achievements is a disservice to millions of Europeans who deserve better options to quit smoking.' With Commissioner Varhelyi confirming that the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) will be revised this term, the WVA urged Brussels to stop missing open goals and start following the lead of Europe's true champions—before more lives are lost off the pitch. Contact:Michael Landl info@ A photo accompanying this announcement is available at in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Silent No More: Protesters Demand Consumer Voice at Tobacco Control Summit
WVA's protest in Dublin DUBLIN, June 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On the opening day of the World Conference on Tobacco Control (WCTC) in Dublin, the World Vapers' Alliance staged a silent protest outside the venue, visually highlighting the exclusion of consumers from global tobacco and nicotine policy debates. Demonstrators with their mouths taped symbolised the ongoing marginalisation of those most affected by regulatory decisions. The protest is part of the 'Voices Unheard—Consumers Matter!' campaign, launched as delegates gathered inside to discuss the future of tobacco control without meaningful input from the consumers who are most impacted by these policies. This exclusion is especially concerning with COP11 in Geneva approaching and the World Health Organization pushing for bans on flavoured nicotine products—a move that would deny adults safer alternatives. Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers' Alliance, warned that outdated, ideologically driven policies, often influenced by powerful interests like Michael Bloomberg, threaten to reverse progress in reducing smoking rates. 'Safer nicotine alternatives have the potential to save millions of lives, but only if they are supported by sensible, evidence-based regulation. We cannot afford to let ideology stand in the way of real progress,' Landl said. The campaign comes at a time when the World Health Organization (WHO) is pushing for sweeping bans on flavoured nicotine products, including e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches. Such measures would remove vital tools from adults seeking to quit smoking and could drive many back to combustible tobacco. Alberto Gómez Hernández, Policy and Advocacy Manager for the WVA, stressed the importance of listening to consumers. 'Instead of banning flavours and safer alternatives, we need policies that protect both youth and adult smokers who want to quit smoking,' he explained. The protest underscores the urgent need for genuine consumer inclusion and evidence-based harm reduction as the world prepares for COP11. For media enquiries and high-resolution images, please contact: Michael Landl info@ VAPERS' ALLIANCE INC 18117 BISCAYNE BLVD PMB 60190 MIAMI, FL 33160 High-quality pictures of the protest can be found here. More information about flavour bans: More about the WVA's demands: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
Associated Press
23-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Bloomberg's War on Harm Reduction Faces Consumer Backlash at Tobacco Conference
DUBLIN, IRELAND / ACCESS Newswire / June 23, 2025 / On the eve of the World Conference on Tobacco Control (WCTC), a lightshow illuminated the conference centre in Dublin, sending a clear message: millions of consumers are being left out of the conversation on global tobacco and nicotine policy. The event, organised by the World Vapers' Alliance, launched the " Voices Unheard - Consumers Matter! " campaign to highlight the ongoing marginalisation of those most affected by tobacco control decisions. With COP11 in Geneva on the horizon, the campaign underscores the urgent need for consumer representation in policymaking. While hundreds of experts and officials discuss regulations behind closed doors, the light show symbolises the voices of countless adults who have successfully quit smoking with safer alternatives, yet remain unheard in critical policy debates. Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers' Alliance, criticised the influence of powerful figures such as Michael Bloomberg, whose support for prohibitionist policies often sidelines consumer perspectives. 'Policymakers must listen to those whose lives are directly impacted by these decisions,' Landl said. 'Evidence, not ideology or the influence of wealthy donors, should guide regulations.' The campaign also addresses recent calls from the World Health Organization for bans on flavoured nicotine products, which advocates argue would deny adults access to life-saving alternatives. Alberto Gómez Hernández, Policy and Advocacy Manager for the WVA, emphasised, 'Banning flavours is not about protection-it's about denying adults the tools they need to quit smoking.' The World Vapers' Alliance continues to call for evidence-based harm reduction policies and genuine consumer inclusion as the world prepares for COP11. For media enquiries, please contact: Michael Landl [email protected] +436648412958 High-quality pictures can be found here. More information about flavour bans: More about the WVA's demands: SOURCE: World Vapers' Alliance press release
Mail & Guardian
16-05-2025
- Health
- Mail & Guardian
Stop weaponising the youth in a paternalistic anti-vaping crusade
Vapes represent a significant harm reduction tool that can see tobacco smoking rates plummet in the future, and flavours play an essential role in this equation. The anti-consumer choice reach of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) has extended further than its stated aim of decreasing tobacco smoking to those methods, primarily vaping, that smokers prefer to cut their nasty habit. The government is not innocent in this attack on personal autonomy and harm reduction. This year marks 20 years since the FCTC was adopted by the busybodies at the World Health Organisation (WHO) and its World Health Assembly member states. In commemoration — perhaps, in commiseration — of this anniversary, the World Vapers' Alliance issued its Rethinking Tobacco Control report, which notes among other things that smoking rates are falling in countries that have embraced innovation in harm reduction, Sweden, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Vapes and e-cigarettes are a huge part of this innovative approach. Public Health England's insights into vaping being some 95% less harmful than tobacco cigarettes is a foremost consideration. Research in 2020 by Dr Abigail Friedman and SiQing Xu also concludes that vape flavours play a significant role in adult cessation of tobacco smoking. In 2021, a group of 10 researchers (Dr Lin Li, Dr Ron Borland and others) concluded similarly that 'Use of fruit and other sweet-flavored e-liquids is positively related to smokers' transition away from cigarettes.' The UK's National Health Service's Better Health initiative also notes that 'vaping is less harmful than smoking. It's also one of the most effective tools for quitting smoking.' While the FCTC contains an offhanded reference to harm reduction in its definition of 'tobacco control' — thus one of the things countries are presumably encouraged to do — it goes no further. In fact, its provisions on tobacco control have been construed by its own conferences of the parties (COP) to apply against vaping. South Africa's Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill, first introduced in 2018, uncritically incorporates much of the COP 2016's anti-vaping recommendations. One of these includes the FCTC's misguided approach to 'product attractiveness'. The Bill allows the minister of health, in recent years a post occupied exclusively by prohibitionists who care little for civil liberty, to adopt virtually any regulations regarding vape aesthetics and flavouring. There are no guardrails on this power that compel the minister's rules to be in line with the best scientific information. Do not be fooled. This is part of the same misguided ideology that informed the failed 'plain packaging' experiment, in which all cigarettes would be sold unbranded in identical packaging. The thinking goes that people who might otherwise not smoke might just be so bedazzled by the colourful branding and advertising that they decide to try it out for size after all. Similarly, now there is the idea that people who do not smoke or vape begin vaping because of the nice flavours. It is a condescending approach to public policymaking. Based on past conduct, and no doubt guided by the COP and FCTC establishment, it is more than likely that the minister will use the power to regulate vape flavours to undermine the strides that vaping has made in reducing the harm of smoking cigarettes. The South African health ministry's approach to regulating smoking and vaping — like the FCTC itself — has been characterised by ideological (rather than scientific) approaches, exemplified by the stubborn resistance to technological innovation as a means of fighting tobacco. All this, of course, is based on five of the most dangerous words in the English language: But think of the children! One of the rules of thumb I have developed over more than a decade in the policy analysis space is this: when politicians say, 'But think of the children!' as a justification for their actions, sit up and look for the ulterior motive. The international crusade against, of all things, vape flavours, is no exception. Why, one might ask, would regulators and politicians be against something so evidently innocuous? Well, the children, of course. Flavoured vaping, it is said, encourages the non-smoking youth to get into vaping. Make no mistake: there can be no freedom left for anyone, whatsoever, if we accept this logic. We must ban knives because a child might get hold of one and hurt themselves. In fact, as a species, we must cease using electricity because children might just stick something in electrical sockets. Cars should be banned because kids sometimes run into the road without looking. But we won't do any of these things, because we understand that it is the responsibility of parents and communities to provide guidance and supervision for the most vulnerable members of society. Life must go on, with adults making free choices about their lives without interference from busybody politicians, and guardians must help children navigate this complex reality. When children accidentally cut themselves, shock themselves, get hit by cars or begin smoking or vaping, this is not a problem caused by too much consumer freedom or too little state regulation. It is, instead, a failure of parenting and community oversight. And if it becomes endemic, it is a failure of culture. The solution to cultural failure is never to ask the very same politicians who comprise the cultural elite to award themselves with more power. Vapes represent a significant harm reduction tool that can see tobacco smoking rates plummet in the future, and flavours play an essential role in this equation. While nothing is ever perfectly safe or healthy, if society could succeed in weeding out most smoking, without coercing smokers, of course, in exchange for vaping, it would be a monumental achievement and a victory for public health. By attacking vape flavours, we run the risk that many who might otherwise have quit smoking instead stick with the habit. If the government had not allowed our state sovereignty to be so effortlessly disregarded by the WHO's 'experts' and their one-size-fits-all centralist designs, our health professionals — guided by our constitutional commitment to individual freedom — would probably have come to the same conclusion as other jurisdictions about this grand opportunity. If South Africa and other signatories to the FCTC are serious about public health, their approach must include encouraging harm reduction methods while respecting the consumer choice of smokers and vapers. Rather than suppressing flavoured vapes, it should be regarded as one of the better ways to reduce smoking. It is high time that the FCTC — and South Africa's Tobacco Bill — be revised in this respect. Martin van Staden is the South African policy fellow at the in the US and head of policy at the Free Market Foundation.
