Beating cancer with Harm Reduction
Bruxelles - The Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA) welcomes and supports the “EU Beating Cancer Plan” presented today by the European Commission. The plan is extremely important in order to significantly reduce the number of cancer-related deaths.
However, the new EU strategy neglects an important instrument for public health: Harm Reduction.
Almost one third of cancer cases in Europe are caused by smoking:
“Tobacco consumption continues to be the leading cause of preventable cancer, with 27% of all cancers attributed to tobacco use. By eliminating tobacco use, nine out every ten cases of lung cancer could be avoided.”[1]
It is therefore more important than ever to use all means at hand to minimize smoking rates. Tobacco harm reduction is rated as a very good opportunity to significantly reduce the number of smokers. That is why it has to be included in an impactful EU Beating Cancer plan:
“When it comes to smoking cessation, the EU Commission is once again concentrating on the 'quit or die' approach instead of creating a realistic addiction policy.", says Prof Heino Stöver from the German Institute for Addiction Research at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. And further: “Great Britain, New Zealand and Canada are putting the e- Cigarette as a main tool in the fight against tobacco use and have been shown to be very successful.”[2]
Cancer potencies: 0.5% of the risk of smoking
In embracing harm reduction the UK shows a better and more effective strategy to decrease the number of smokers. With broad education on harm-reducing alternatives, British health policy has drastically reduced the smoking rate within a few years. In 2011, 20 percent of the British still smoked, in 2019 it was around 14 percent.[3]
In 2018, the government agency Public Health England (PHE) published a report with data on e-cigarettes. According to PHE, vapers have a 99.5 percent lower risk of cancer than smokers. Overall, PHE estimates that e-cigarettes are at least 95 percent less harmful than tobacco cigarettes.[4]
Dustin Dahlmann, Chairman of IEVA: “We welcome the EU Beating Cancer Plan. The strategy needs to consider all means available to reduce the burden of cancer related risks: It is of utmost importance that preventive measures are flanked by tobacco harm reduction. Otherwise, millions of smokers might miss the opportunity to tremendously reduce their risk of cancer.”
[1] EU Beating Cancer Plan, 2021. Link
[2] Prof Heino Stöver, Press release, February 03, 2021. Link
[3] Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2019. Link
[4] “Evidence review of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products”, Public Health England 2018. Link
Contacts
Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA)
President: Dustin Dahlmann
Press coordinator: Philip Drögemüller
Phone: +32 (2) 791 7759
E-Mail: p.droegemueller@eurovape.eu
Web: www.eurovape.eu
About IEVA (Independent European Vape Alliance)
IEVA (Independent European Vape Alliance)The Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA) is the only pan-European association aimed at uniting national associations, companies, manufacturers and wholesalers in the vaping industry and providing them with responsible representation at the European level.
IEVA’s founding principle is to contribute to harm reduction and public health. E-cigarettes have a significant positive impact and should be recognized as a harm reduction tool because vaping is not smoking.
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Latest releases from IEVA (Independent European Vape Alliance)
Health professionals should know the vaping facts16.3.2023 13:11:22 CET | Pressemeddelelse
Brussels - 700,000 people in the EU die each year as a result of smoking and every second smoker dies 14 years prematurely. [1] Switching to vaping has helped millions of smokers worldwide to significantly reduce the harm to their health. The principle of harm reduction works, and millions more smokers could benefit from it. But for it to really change society, smokers need the facts: and that starts with healthcare professionals. Three experts from King's College London and the public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) have recently addressed health professionals, focusing on "myths about e-cigarettes and vaping". [2] "E-cigarettes (vapes) are currently the most popular aid used to quit smoking in England and are used by around 4.3 million adults in Great Britain, the majority of whom are ex-smokers," the authors state, emphasising that " ... vaping poses only a small fraction of the health risks of smoking and that smokers should be encouraged to use vaping products ..
World Cancer Day - Decrease smoking rates with reduced-risk alternatives3.2.2023 11:11:19 CET | Press release
19.7 percent of the EU population are daily smokers. [1] 700,000 people in the EU die each year as a result of smoking and every second smoker dies on average 14 years prematurely. [2] Smoking is the leading cause of preventable cancer, with 27 percent of all cancers attributed to tobacco. [3] The examples of Great Britain (smoking rate: 13.8 percent) and New Zealand (10.9 percent) show necessary measures that could serve as a template for European health policy. To educate smokers, the British and the New Zealand governments are increasingly using harm-reducing alternatives such as vaping. The UK government has put the harm potential of vaping at least 95 percent less than smoking. The risk of developing cancer is considered to be 99.5 percent lower for vapers than for smokers. These findings have been substantiated in multiple publications over recent years. [4] In the UK and New Zealand, smokers are strongly encouraged to switch to vaping [5] and healthcare professionals are encoura
Chinese and European e-cigarette associations sign Code for Responsible Marketing17.10.2022 15:04:14 CEST | Pressemeddelelse
Brussels - The European e-cigarette association Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA) recently decided to update its Code for Responsible Marketing in order to demonstrate the responsibility of the industry when it comes to youth protection. The Chinese association China Electronic Chamber of Commerce (ECCC) now also has signed this code. This is a very good sign of responsibility. The Code for Responsible Marketing contains 14 mandatory principles. The main focus of the code is that “e-cigarette marketing should not make vaping seem appealing to minors”. [1] Dustin Dahlmann, President of IEVA: “As confident as we are that e-cigarettes have significant harm reduction potential, we also recognize that they must be marketed responsibly. The signatories therefore only address adult smokers and e-cigarette users with their advertising and marketing to inform them about the products. Youth protection is imperative for us. We are very glad that we agreed on this with our dear colleagues
Vaping facts - European awareness campaign launched26.4.2022 11:56:46 CEST | Press release
IEVA, the only pan-European vaping association, launched today a new campaign aimed at educating smokers about the harm reduction potential of vaping compared to combustible tobacco. Far too few smokers know the actual facts about e-cigarettes, making them less likely to switch to a significantly less harmful alternative.
Vaping industry underlines the importance of product choice10.12.2021 09:15:11 CET | Press release
The Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA) welcomed the decision of MEPs to recognize tobacco harm reduction as a tool in beating cancer; but remains concerned that the report approved today by the European Parliament leaves the door open to a flavour ban in the EU. The Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA) today voted on the amendments and the draft of the Beating Cancer report by Rapporteur Véronique Trillet-Lenoir.[1] The authors of the report identify smoking as one of the main causes of cancer and IEVA agrees that everything should be done to significantly reduce the smoking rate in Europe. There is little scientific doubt that tobacco harm reduction is a key tool in achieving this goal.[2] Even those skeptical of tobacco harm reduction concede that vaping is many orders of magnitude less harmful than continuing to smoke. According to Public Health England (PHE), e-cigarettes are 95 percent less harmful than tobacco and the risk of cancer drops by 99.6 percent.[3] The repo