Vapouround Magazine ISSUE 35 | Page 62

FEATURE

IS IT TIME TO REPLACE THE ANTI-VAPING WHO ?

As the WHO seems determined to ignore the evidence and tell the world that vaping is as bad as smoking , an expert panel questioned whether it has had its day .
Words : Jordan Millar
Has the World Health Organization proven itself so ‘ vastly incompetent ’ that it should be replaced with a body that ’ s fit for purpose ? A panel of experts recently demanded an end to the anti-vaping rhetoric of the WHO , calling for it to follow the evidence and support the reduced risk alternative . The virtual roundtable , hosted by the IEA , questioned whether there was a role for the health body at all , or if we should create a new organisation that takes a more progressive approach to tobacco harm reduction . Christopher Snowdon of the Institute of Economic Affairs ( IEA ) claimed that there was ‘ nothing special about the WHO ’, saying there is ‘ definitely room for competition .’ He said : “ It ’ s quite possible that if countries like the UK and the USA defunded the WHO , which I think we would probably need to do , we ’ d set up another agency . “ It wouldn ’ t be easy initially , but it could be replicated … they ’ re not the top people in the world .”
Also speaking on the panel was Louis Houlbrooke of the New Zealand Taxpayers ’ Union , who added that the health body only seemed to provide ‘ another layer of hand-wringing and thinktanking .’

“ It may be possible to make the WHO irrelevant by having other organisations do the job better .

He questioned why the WHO refused to align with pro-vaping countries such as the UK when it came to harm reduction , saying that ‘ funders should have some sort of say ’. Matt Ridley , Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vaping , stressed that the organisation needed to focus on its ‘ day job ’ as a global health authority . He said ‘ huge bureaucratic organisations ’ like the WHO were often bad at doing their jobs and questioned whether more focused bodies such as the Gates Foundation could offer a viable alternative . Matt said : “ It may be possible to make the WHO irrelevant by having other organisations do the job better . “ Chris Snowdon said that the WHO is incompetent , and I think he ’ s understating the case … it ’ s vastly worse than that .”
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