31.08.2022 Brussels, Belgium — Starting October 5th, the World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) returns on the road with its #BackVapingBeatSmoking tour to deliver a message to policymakers that vaping can save 19 million lives in Europe. The campaign will launch on October 5th in Strasbourg, France with a Don’t Let 19 Million Lives Fall protest art installation and will spread across ten cities within six countries during October – November 2022.

The campaign comes together as the Europe-wide tobacco legislation, Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), is being reviewed by the European legislators. The World Vapers’ Alliance has previously participated in the EU Commission’s public call for evidence to speak out against flavour bans and excessive regulation. Now the WVA will amplify voices of the European vaping community in the attempt to acknowledge vaping as an effective harm reduction tool with a potential to save the lives of 19 million smokers in Europe.

“We are back on the road but yet carry the same message: by backing vaping we can beat smoking and save 19 million lives with sensible regulation. The EU call for evidence has seen a record number of 24 thousand responses which shows that consumers want to embrace tobacco harm reduction and it happens that vaping has been proven the most successful so far. We will host community events and protests in France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Portugal and Belgium to draw attention to one of the most crucial pieces of legislation that is on the table for the future of vaping. It is time for politicians to listen to consumers. So we will make them listen,” said WVA’s director, Michael Landl.

WVA has also launched a petition to avoid harmful vaping regulations such as flavour bans, or high taxation on vaping products. The signatures will be delivered to the Members of the European Parliament at the end of the tour in November.