ASEAN vapers form group for Geneva confab

MANILA, Philippines — Associations of electronic cigarette users from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia have banded together to serve as one voice for the region’s vapers in the ongoing 8th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP8) to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The #VapersBeHeard federation seeks to provide an opportunity for vaping groups in Southeast Asia to be heard by global, regional and national policymakers as well as the general public regarding their views on better alternatives or technologies for effective smoking cessation.

Peter Paul Dator from The Vapers Philippines, Dimas Jeremia from Indonesian Vapers Association, Asa Saligupta from ENDS Cigarette Smoke Thailand, and Azrul Hafriz Bin Zainudin from the Malaysian Organization of Vape Entity made the announcement during a panel discussion on “Alternative Tobacco Products Regulations: the Role of Consumers,” held in Manila recently and spearheaded by the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs.

“Vapers are generally active in the digital world through social media, blogs, and other platforms. We want to take advantage of this by launching a digital campaign through which all vapers can participate, and this will hopefully allow us to be part of the discussions with policymakers. For years, regulations on e-cigarettes and other alternative products were issued but failed to take into consideration the interest of vapers, smokers, and the concerned public,” Dator said.

The #VapersBeHeard group seeks to convey the message to policymakers that vapers and smokers have the “basic human right” to receive accurate information as well as have access to better alternative products to smoking, rather than for them to continue smoking cigarettes, which is the most harmful way of consuming tobacco, or getting their nicotine fix.

“Our first goal for this campaign is to be a part of the discussion in the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Conference of Parties (WHOFCTCCOP) 8th meeting in Geneva.

We have created a digital call-for-action that will enable every vaper in Asia to voice their concern by visiting our microsite www.vapersbeheard.com,” Saligupta said.

The WHOFCTCCOP8 is being held in Geneva from Oct. 1 to 6.