Menace of e-cigarettes
There has been a growing challenge of youngsters smoking e-cigarettes and vaping. The challenge calls for urgent action to control the same to protect children and non-smokers and minimize health harm to the population.
Oman is among the countries that have banned the import or usage of e-cigarettes. Thirty-three countries have banned the sale of e-cigarettes, 88 have no minimum age at which e-cigarettes can be bought, and 74 countries have no regulations for these harmful products.
According to a note from the World Health Organization (WHO), alarming evidence has emerged on adverse population health effects as e-cigarettes have been allowed on the open market and aggressively marketed to young people. E-cigarettes as consumer products are not shown to be effective for quitting tobacco use at the population level.
Speaking on the lethal effects of e-cigarettes and vaping, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said that kids are being recruited and trapped at an early age to use e-cigarettes and may get hooked on nicotine.
I urge countries to implement strict measures to prevent uptake to protect their citizens, especially their children and young people, he said.
E-cigarettes with nicotine are highly addictive and are harmful to health. While long-term health effects are not fully understood, it has been established that they generate toxic substances, some of which are known to cause cancer and some that increase the risk of heart and lung disorders. The use of e-cigarettes can also affect brain development and lead to learning disorders for young people. Fetal exposure to e-cigarettes can adversely affect the development of the fetus in pregnant women. Exposure to emissions from e-cigarettes also poses risks to bystanders.
Experts in lifestyle diseases in Oman opined that the tobacco industry profits from destroying health and is using these newer products to get a seat at the policy-making table with governments to lobby against health policies for private gains.
By and large, the tobacco industry funds and promotes false evidence to argue that these products reduce harm while at the same time heavily promoting these products to children and non-smokers and continuing to sell billions of cigarettes worldwide. What we require here is a set of strong, decisive actions to prevent the uptake of e-cigarettes based on the growing body of evidence of its use by children and adolescents and health harms, said medics.
Dr. Ruediger Krech, Director for Health Promotion at the WHO, revealed that with at least 16,000 flavors, e-cigarettes target children through social media and influencers.
Some of these products use cartoon characters and have sleek designs, which appeal to the younger generation. There is an alarming increase in the use of e-cigarettes among children and young people with rates exceeding adult use in many countries, said Dr. Ruediger Krech, adding that more children among the 13-15-year age bracket are using e-cigarettes than adults in all WHO regions use. In some countries, e-cigarette use among 16-19-year-olds has doubled between 2017-2022, while in countries like the United Kingdom, the number among youth has tripled in the past three years.
Even brief exposure to e-cigarette content on social media can be associated with increased intention to use these products, as well as more positive attitudes toward e-cigarettes. Studies consistently show that young people who use e-cigarettes are almost three times more likely to use cigarettes later in life.
Urgent measures are necessary to prevent the uptake of e-cigarettes and counter nicotine addiction alongside a comprehensive approach to tobacco control and in light of national circumstances.
