All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vaping Inquiry (COP9)

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vaping is conducting an inquiry into this year’s Conference of the Parties 9 (COP9). The inquiry will consider how the UK Government should approach its attendance at the World Health Organisations (WHO) meeting on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control(FCTC) this November.

What is the World Health Organisations Framework Convention on Tobacco Control?

The World Health Organisation developed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the goal of which is to help provide governments with a set of guidelines to assist them in reducing tobacco consumption. The convention was initially signed in 2003 and then ratified in 2005. Representatives have convened every two years to discuss ways in which the FCTC, or its implementation, might be improved. This meeting is referred to as the Conference of the Parties (COP), and its ninth iteration is scheduled to take place in November of 2021.

Over the years the World Health Organisation has not recognised the role that vaping has played in improving people’s health across the world. In fact, during meetings in 2020, there have been calls from some parties to ban or heavily restrict the use of E-Cigarettes. For an organisation that purports to be science-led it appears to be ignoring the science that proves vaping is safer than smoking. 

Whilst We Vape supports the overall noble goal of reducing deaths from smoking, it doesn’t feel that the current framework does enough to propose harm reduction strategies that will bring down smoking numbers through the use of reduced-risk products.

We Vape will be calling on the UK Government to be more vocal on the global stage, showcasing and supporting its science and evidence based approach to tobacco harm reduction in particular its strategy to embrace the use of e-cigarettes to help people quit smoking.

How can you help?

We Vape will be submitting its own evidence to the inquiry which you can contribute to by emailing your views to info@we-vape.org The APPG is also allowing submissions from consumers directly so if you would like to you can go to the website www.copinquiry.co.uk 

What information is the inquiry looking for?

The inquiry must hear from consumers as this is something that the World Health Organisation has neglected to do in the past. You should tell the inquiry:

1. Your experiences as a smoker, how long were you smoking for, how many cigarettes a day, did you try quitting using methods other than vaping, were they successful?
2. How did you end up vaping? Did you use a flavour to help you quit? How long have you now been vaping?
3. In your opinion has your health improved since you started vaping? 
4. Do you think the UK Government should stand up and defend vaping at the WHO FCTC?
5. Are you worried about other countries banning vaping and vaping flavours?
6. Do you think there is a danger that the international bodies could start imposing anti-vaping policies on the UK?
7. Do you believe the FCTC is fit for purpose? We don’t believe it is because it doesn’t focus enough on utlising harm reduction and new available reduced risk products such as vaping were not available when the FCTC was first signed. 
8. Do you think the World Health Organisation does enough to listen to vapers who have managed to quit smoking?