Doctors call on European Union: “Electronic cigarettes help to quit smoking”
Posted in InsideOver
To say that e-cigarettes are harmful to the world without comparing their effects with those of traditional tobacco products can encourage a growing number of smokers to return to their old pack of cigarettes. This is the warning received by EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakidis from a team of doctors, academics, psychologists and neuroscientists from various European countries.
A roadmap drawn up by the EU in its fight against cancer, which began last February, envisions reducing the number of smokers in Old Epirus from 25 to 5 percent by 2040, in less than twenty years. An objective which the Commission seeks to achieve by taking stricter measures against tobacco products, as well as against innovative products, such as e-cigarettes and electronic nicotine distribution systems.
However, many people believe that this approach is the problem. Starting with the content of the report on e-smoking itself. The document from Scheer, the Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks, was published last April at the request of the European Community, which in 2021 is preparing to update the tax regulations on tobacco products and the thresholds to be imposed on sales of goods.
The report assesses the health risks of e-cigarettes without comparing them with those involved in traditional cigarettes. In short, experts complain that the principle of risk reduction, which is the basis of so many anti-smoking campaigns, has been omitted. In many countries, in this very way, the percentage of smokers has dropped dramatically. “A growing number of scientists are recognizing the role that nicotine-based alternatives can play in reducing population-induced harm from smoking, even though all nicotine-based products pose a residual risk to any user.” “, The experts point out the letter to Commissioner Kyriakidis.
Recently, the World Health Organization also expressed a similar view, stating that the “complete replacement” of traditional cigarettes with electronic ones, “reduces user exposure to a range of toxic and carcinogenic substances.” In short, according to experts, including Italian doctors such as Fabio Beatrice, Fabio Lugoboni and Riccardo Polosa, the EU does not provide clear information on this assessment, to the point that, as a Eurobarometer survey reveals, only 37% of the 12 million Europeans who use e-cigarettes know that steam does less harm than traditional smoking.
Treating these products as if they were the same, experts warn, facilitates the return of e-cigarettes to the “package”, thus thwarting all efforts to free the Old Continent from dependence. “Electronic cigarettes are not completely safe – doctors make it clear – but they help smokers stay away from traditional cigarettes. That fact must be taken into account. ” According to the Public Health Agency of England, the government research agency funded by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the risk is 95 per cent lower.
In addition, the research team points out, Great Britain has the lowest number of smokers after Sweden. The rate in Britain is 12%, compared to the European average of 23%. France has also recently adopted the e-cigarette as an alternative to reducing the number of smokers based on the principle of risk reduction. To better clarify this perception, a few weeks ago Emmanuele Jannini, Professor of Endocrinology and Sexual Medicine at the Tor Vergata University in Rome, made a comparison with the fight against Covid.
“The strategy to prevent Covid should be complete immobility,” he explained to Adnkronos Salute. ” “This also happens – he added – with the use of nicotine-based devices or with drinks that contain less alcohol or low-fat foods.”
The demand of those at the forefront of the fight against smoking is therefore to start work on a second envelope comparing traditional cigarettes with innovative products. Only in this way, doctors say, “will it be possible to provide consumers with accurate information” and give a chance to all those smokers who either do not want to or can not get rid of nicotine addiction.
Source: https://bit.ly/2TQG2xh