Despite the regulatory challenges faced by the vaping industry, Filipino entrepreneurs selling e-cigarettes are bullish on the future of their product.
E-cigarettes, however, are finding it hard to please the Department of Health and other regulators in the Philippines, even as a study offers hope for a better understanding of the electronic device.
The latest research on tobacco harm reduction presented by a Greek expert
can change the way doctors look at e-cigarettes (also technically referred to
as vapes), according to Joey Dulay, president of the Philippine E-Cigarette
Industry Association.
For years, Dulay has been advocating for e-cigarettes as a safe alternative to tobacco smoking. He said the new study is a big welcome to their industry.
Even new players in the business are optimistic. Kris Lawrence, a singer by profession, recently opened a vape shop in ParaƱaque because he believes e-cigarettes are not harmful.
āWe see no major harm in using e-cigarettes. Not a few people were able to give up smoking in place of vape. A single cigarette stick is loaded with 36 mg of nicotine, as compared to a 65 ml of vape juice which only has 3 mg of nicotine,ā Lawrence said.
āIt [e-cigarette] doesnāt smell that bad as compared to cigarettes. I recommend vape in place of cigarettes,ā he added.
āSmoking remains a worldwide public health problem because it is very difficult for smokers to quit and smoking cessation medications have limited effectiveness. For smokers unable or unwilling to quit with approved smoking cessation medications, tobacco harm reduction could be a third-line option,ā Lawrence said
Dr. Konstantinos E. Farsalinos, in his lecture during the Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology Congress 2019 held from May 22 to 26, 2019, at the SMX Convention Center and Conrad Hotel in Pasay City, highlighted the health advantages of shifting to vape.
āThe cigarette is the most effective and most harmful nicotine delivery system ever developed. Tobacco harm reduction is a public health strategy aimed at lowering smoking-related health risks to individuals who cannot or do not want to quit by themselves or with currently approved methods through the use of less harmful nicotine delivery systems,ā explained Farsalinos, a research fellow at the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, University of Patras, and National School of Public Health in Greece.
Farsalinos has been conducting research on e-cigarettes as principal investigator since 2011. His research findings were among the references used by the European Union in drafting the EU regulatory framework on e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes are the most common type of electronic nicotine delivery systems, which refer to devices that do not burn or use tobacco leaves but instead vaporize a solution the user then inhales.
A cardiologist himself,
Farsalinos presented congress delegates with official position statements of
the American Heart Association and American Cancer Society, as well as
independent reviews by Public Health England and the Royal College of
Physicians, supporting e-cigarettes as a significantly less harmful
alternative to conventional cigarettes and viable smoking
cessation aid.
āCurrently available evidence indicates that e-cigarettes are by far a less harmful alternative to smoking and significant health benefits are expected in smokers who switch from tobacco to e-cigarettes,ā said Farsalinos, citing the key finding of a systematic review he co-authored and which was published in 2014 in Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety.
2 comments
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The American Heart Association does not support “e-cigarettes as a significantly less harmful alternative to conventional cigarettes and viable smoking cessation aid.” This is a lie. Do some research; look at the AHA website, instead of printing wrong information.