Yesterday (May 26), the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) challenged the World Health Organization’s anti-vaping stance as “scientifically bankrupt,” accusing it of endangering public health by ignoring evidence that safer nicotine products save lives.
The rebuke coincided with the upcoming WHO’s World No Tobacco Day on May 30, which CAPHRA claims weaponizes misinformation to justify prohibitionist policies.
“The WHO’s ‘Health For All’ mantra rings hollow when it dismisses vaping’s life-saving potential,” said Nancy Loucas, CAPHRA’s Executive Coordinator. “Their 2025 theme masks a dangerous agenda: protecting cigarette markets by vilifying harm reduction.”
Loucas condemned WHO’s exclusion of consumer advocates from COP10 talks. “Silencing experts while citing debunked ‘gateway’ theories exposes their fear of facts,” she said. She highlighted stark contrasts as UK youth smoking halved to 3.6% since 2012 under regulated vaping, while Maldives’ vaping ban saw youth smoking rise 12%.
“Vaping is 95% safer than smoking, a fact repeatedly proven, and has contributed to a fast declining smoking rate in countries where it is regulated, that WHO ignores to appease anti-nicotine ideologues,” Loucas said. “This isn’t public health. It’s prohibitionist theatre that sacrifices smokers’ lives.
“The WHO equates vaping with smoking, yet 82 million ex-smokers globally prove otherwise. Their 1980s-style fearmongering helps nobody but cigarette traders. This World Vape Day, we demand the WHO stop lying. Regulate vaping strictly, educate honestly, and watch smoking collapse. The UK model works. Ideological bans kill.”
