A press release by the World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA), highlighted that the EU Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks’ (SCHEER) final report on e-cigarettes, is a step backwards for public health in Europe as it ignores all the scientific evidence in favour of tobacco harm reduction.

Sadly ignoring scientific data, smoking cessation success stories from consumers and expert opinions received in the consultation period, the SCHEER report inaccurately stated that there is weak evidence indicating vapes’ success for smoking cessation. The report added that there is weak to moderate evidence on smoking reduction.

Commenting on the report, Director of the Alleanza Dinjija tal-Vapers (WVA) Michael Landl, said that such misinformation will have negative consequences. “This report is a tragedy for public health and will have dire consequences for smokers and vapers alike. SCHEER ignores a large amount of scientific evidence on vaping, all of which was provided by experts and consumers to SCHEER during their consultation earlier this year. They chose to ignore it. This is a slap in the face of vapers and of common sense.”

Patterns of inaccurate reporting in the SCHEER report

A paper released earlier this year by renowned tobacco harm reduction expert Dr. Riccardo Polosa and his team at the Center of Excellence for the Acceleration of Harm Reduction (CoEHAR), had presented evidence that the Committee’s “conclusions are not adequately backed up by scientific evidence and did not discuss the potential health benefits of using alternative combustion-free nicotine-containing products as substitute for tobacco cigarettes.”

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