The electronic cigarette or vaping can contribute for establishing a tobacco-free society, said a group of advocates at a webinar titled ‘Save Vaping, Save Bangladesh’.
Organised by the Bangladesh-based Voices of Vapers, the webinar addressed the recent proposal to ban vape and other alternative and heat-not-burn tobacco products in a new amendment to the country’s tobacco control legislation.
The event hosted local and international speakers working in the field of harm reduction and people involved in vape-product trade.
Health Diplomats President Dr Delon Human said that there is no evidence for the statement that nicotine in vapes are more harmful than cigarettes, as claimed by National Tobacco Control Cell (NTCC).
Research by the UK Health Security Agency (formerly known as Public Health England) has reiterated that vaping is 95 percent safer than smoking.
Studies by Royal College of Physicians, European Addiction Research and US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine have all concluded that vaping is safer than smoking.
Bangladesh Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Traders Association (BENDSTA) President Schumann Zaman said that not recognising vape traders and vape users as stakeholders will have major consequences as many of these vapers are using e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool.
World Vapers’ Alliance Director Michael Landl said that evidence shows that blocking access to vaping drives former smokers back to cigarette smoking.
“Bangladesh should incorporate a tobacco harm reduction framework with separate independent chapters to regulate reduced-risk products, risk-proportionate regulations and taxation for safer alternatives, and review science from credible institutions and adopt best practices from countries with success stories,” he said.
UK Vaping Industry Association Director General John Dunne and Enam Medical College Head of Community Medicine Dr Mithun Alamgir also spoke in the virtual session.