The World Health Organization said on Friday that the tobacco smoking products and e-cigarettes do possess the health risks. The organization said that the claims made by the cigarette firms about their apparent safety can not be trusted.
The electric devices that let people smoke nicotine liquids have become increasingly popular lately, especially among teenagers and young adults. This new popularity is helped by the e-cigarette companies’ marketing tactics that call their products relatively safer and an alternative to smoking cigarettes. The organization reported that this has actually worked in the favor of the companies which have attracted a large number of new customers who find themselves addicted to these products. E-cigarette users are at a lower risk of inhaling harmful toxins than cigarette smokers. However, the health risks of vaping are still substantially high.
The organization said in its new report that “although the specific level of risk associated with ENDS (electronic nicotine delivery systems) has not yet been conclusively estimated, ENDS are undoubtedly harmful and should therefore be subject to regulation.” WHO added that the claims made by the cigarette firms that vaping helps people in quitting their habit of smoking is unsubstantiated. It said that “In most countries where they are available, the majority of e-cigarette users continue to use e-cigarettes and cigarettes concurrently, which has little to no beneficial impact on health risk and effects.”
Programme manager of WHO’s tobacco control unit, Vinayak Prasad stated that any marketing tactics claiming to put an alternative safe way of using nicotine products is a way of expanding the global market of tobacco companies. He said that there is no essential difference between smoking cigarettes and vaping apart from their exposure. E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products have acted as a gateway for younger people especially in the United States.
