Asia-Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates Criticize WHO Policy Shift, Say It Harms India and Other Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Key points:

·The Asia Pacific Advocates for Harm Reduction Alliance (CAPHRA) has warned that the recent shift in tobacco harm reduction policy by the World Health Organization (WHO) not only contradicts years of evidence, but also disproportionately harms countries with middle to low incomes such as India. 

·India has a large number of tobacco users, a complex economy, and many livelihoods at stake. 

·CAPHRA has criticized WHO's double standards and called for science-based and fair policies.

【2Firsts News Flash】According to a report in The Hindu on July 16th, the Asia-Pacific Advocates for Tobacco Harm Reduction Alliance (CAPHRA) has warned that the recent shift in tobacco harm reduction policies by the World Health Organization (WHO) not only contradicts decades of evidence but also harms countries like India and other low- and middle-income countries.

CAPHRA points out that India is the country with the highest number of tobacco users in the world, facing a unique, diverse, and complex tobacco landscape.

In contrast to the Western market dominated by cigarettes, the tobacco economy in India includes over 200 million smokeless tobacco users, millions of bidi smokers, and an informal value chain that supports the livelihoods of over 45 million people - from farmers, bidi rollers to small retailers and microenterprises, many of which are operated by rural women.

CAPHRA further stated that shifting towards producing safer nicotine products using existing raw materials and resources will protect livelihoods and address the public health risks posed by smoking and hazardous oral products.

This is not just a misjudgment of public health - it is an economic and public health harm, a blow to the most vulnerable groups. The policy shift influenced by WHO donors, prioritizing only smoking cessation methods, may be effective in Manhattan or Oslo, but in Mong or Mouda, they may worsen health inequalities and erode India's right to determine its own policy path.

CAPHRA coordinator Nancy Loucas stated in a press release.

According to CAPHRA, in its history, the WHO has supported a three-pillar approach: prevention, cessation, and harm reduction. Its own tobacco control group has also acknowledged that alternative products such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products can save lives when properly regulated - especially for those who are unable or unwilling to quit smoking.

“In recent years, under the increasing influence of philanthropists such as the Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Gates Foundation, the WHO has shifted towards a prohibitionist agenda - rejecting innovation and undermining tools that once brought hope for global tobacco control. Despite countries like Japan and Sweden seeing a significant decrease in smoking rates due to the legalization of safer alternatives, the WHO is now urging low- and middle-income countries to ban the tools that other countries have successfully used. If the WHO's stance is truly based on science and health equity, then why has it not implemented these bans in high-income countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, or Japan? The reality is that in these countries, bans are politically infeasible, economically destructive, and socially unpopular.”

CAPHRA believes that this shift reflects a "dangerous global double standard.