The World Health Organization (WHO) warned against industry efforts to undermine efforts to fight tobacco and nicotine. Before the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the European Union’s alleged ban on filtered cigarettes made headlines, although the European Union denied the information. Tobacco companies are very influential, warned Etienne Krug, director of the WHO department responsible for tobacco. “We need to be wary of industry interference in the debate.”
WHO would welcome a filter ban. “But this should not divert attention from taxing tobacco, which would cause tobacco consumption to shrink further,” Krug said in an interview with the dpa news agency.
WHO criticism of Germany
Germany received a WHO report regarding progress in fighting the disease tobacco and nicotine is mostly a bad value: taxes are not high enough. According to WHO information, this price should reach at least 75 percent of the price. The WHO recommendation to sell cigarettes in standard packaging without colors and logos has not been implemented in Germany.
“The tobacco and nicotine industries always come up with new products, such as vapes, because they appeal to the younger generation who get them addicted to nicotine from an early age – this is how they secure their market,” said doctor Ulrike Helbig, who heads the German Cancer League’s office in Berlin.
A vape is an electronic device that heats a liquid and produces vapor that is inhaled. Most vapes contain nicotine. They are available in a variety of flavors such as gummy bear or cotton candy, which are especially appealing to young people.
In this country, there are 127,000 deaths due to tobacco per year
Helbig supports the recommendations of WHOto ban flavorings. He would also welcome a filter ban. “Everything that can limit tobacco and nicotine consumption should be implemented,” Helbig said.
According to their information, 127,000 people die in Germany every year due to tobacco consumption. One in five of the 520,000 new cancer cases each year is caused by tobacco and nicotine. The economic costs of treating sick people and lost income are about six times greater than revenues from tobacco taxes.
