Philippines among worst countries for vapers

WARSAW – The Philippines is among the worst countries in the world for vapers, or users of e-cigarettes or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS).

The Philippines tied with Brazil at 11th spot in the list of the worst countries for vapers in a survey of leaders of 36 national organizations of vapers and advocates of tobacco harm reduction gathered here in Poland’s capital for the 5th Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN).

Topping the list of worst countries to vape in are Thailand followed by Australia, India, Japan and Turkey.

Among the countries considered to be best for vapers are United Kingdom, Germany and France.

At the 5th GFN, scientists, researchers and public health practitioners from the United States, Australia, and United Kingdom presented studies showing the effectiveness of vaping as a smoking cessation tool.

Two Australian doctors advocating tobacco harm reduction said there is a need to clear misperceptions and misinformation regarding tobacco smoke and nicotine.

They explained that tobacco smoking causes heart disease, stroke and lung cancer, but smoking-related diseases are not caused by nicotine.

The sickness and death caused by smoking is due to the burning of dried tobacco leaf, which produces poisonous gases such as carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and cyanide that the smoker inhales.

“Nicotine is what causes addiction to smoking, but nicotine is relatively harmless with minor health effects. E-cigarettes give users the same hand-to-mouth behavior and the nicotine they want—the whole cigarette smoking experience but less harm,” said Dr. Colin Mendelsohn, associate professor at the University of New South Wales and chairman of the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association.

“It is the burning of tobacco in cigarettes that produces harmful chemicals. This does not occur in e-cigarettes, which only heat and vaporize liquid at lower temperatures. The scientific evidence shows that e-cigarettes are much, much safer than tobacco cigarettes,” said Dr. Joe Kosterich, adjunct professor at the University of Western Australia.

Mendelsohn explained doctors like him saw firsthand how people who had repeatedly failed with approved smoking cessation treatments were able to successfully quit smoking through e-cigarettes.

“That’s not enough on its own, but then you look at the scientific evidence plus the personal experience of people, and you realize that e-cigarettes have huge potential,” he said.

“Policymakers are often people who don’t deal with patients. They work in universities or health departments with people who are like themselves. They don’t mix with smokers and people with different backgrounds. They assume that their policies work because everybody that they talk to is like them,” Kosterich said.

The national organizations of vapers has also called for the recognition of e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco as an effective and safe alternative to smoking tobacco.

“Thailand has a draconian approach with tourists as well as local people regularly getting arrested for vaping. Police often search vehicles at road blocks for e-cigarettes and then use them to extract fines. This is not just terrible for Thai smokers who want to quit but also makes it a country to avoid for the tens of millions of tourists and business people around the world who vape,” said Asa Ace Saligupta, who runs the End Cigarette Smoke Thailand consumer group.

The United Kingdom, on the other hand, had the most remarkable change of heart on vaping.

“Four years ago, it was trying to ban all e-cigarettes on the market. Today the UK has three million vapers – and this is accelerating the decline in smoking among the British,” said professor Gerry Stimson of UK charity New Nicotine Alliance.