The Vape Ban in Turkey remains, thanks to the WHO
Smoking cigarettes is quite rampant in Turkey, where 43% of men, 18.2% of women and 16.8% of children between the age of 13-15 consume tobacco. As such, given the widespread awareness about the negative health impacts of tobacco, it was expected that the Turkish government would uplift the blanket ban on e-cigarettes and other heat-not-burn products. However, the authorities in Turkey have decided that the ban would continue. A public statement was issued by the Minister of Finance at the Turkish Grand National Assembly Commission on Planning and Budget where he confirmed that the government had withdrawn its plan of allowing neat-not-burn tobacco products and similar items to be imported and produced within the country. What is even more surprising is that this decision was thoroughly supported and applauded by the World Health Organization that even issued a press release to show it's supported for the cause. Understanding The Recent Change It is believed that the government was under pressure from the WHO that has exhibited its disapproval of the new strategy that the tobacco industry had proposed. The strategy was to import and produce ENDS and health-not-burn products in the country. The WHO’s press release states that the public strongly criticized this new strategy of the tobacco industry. It is this public that is worried that the sale of e-cigarettes and related products will disturb their public funding. Makes one wonder if this strong condemnation was to support the overall public health or their own personal agenda. The Implications It will definitely make one think about whether WHO has the best health interest of the public at the core or not, since it is the sale of products safer than tobacco that the organization has disapproved of. The argument that vaping could reduce the health risks that tobacco smokers are subjected to is not as important as protecting the tobacco industry. According to a professor at Hacettepe University, Hilal Ozcebe, e-cigarettes are as harmful as tobacco. The former is not less harmful than the latter, as they both have the same nicotine levels and cause similar respiratory and cardio-vascular problems. So the proposal submitted by the tobacco industry - to import and manufacture vaping devices - on the basis of the belief that vaping is less harmful than cigarettes is unacceptable to her. It is true that tobacco does cause those problems but there is no proof that nicotine in e-cigarettes cause the same hazards, so if the Turkish government is so hell-bent on protecting the health of its public, it should show an equal eagerness to ban the sale of cigarettes as well, something it shows no interest in achieving in the near future. The UNO operates on the belief that public plays an important part in improving the general health by making informed decisions and voluntarily co-operating. However, by misguiding the people by allowing such false beliefs to spread, it is going against its own core belief. There is a non-profit organization inTurkey, called the Turkish Green Crescent Society that helps fight against harmful addictions like smoking and drinking. One of its officials said that to bring about the right implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the Turkish government undertook commendable efforts by raising public awareness and using the co-operative efforts of non-profit organizations. However, making such a decision in a country where 28.8% of the adults are regular smokers, it seems that the government has been colluding to protect the sales of the traditional cigarettes whose harmful effects can become life-threatening. The statistics in Turkey are quite alarming, especially if one considers that in the US and the UK, the percentage of daily smokers are half of that of Turkey. The WHO was created to protect and safeguard good health in the world, but by advocating the ban on the sale of vaping and similar devices, it has participated in discouraging the tobacco industry on the sale of less harmful products compared to cigarettes. It has gone against its own basic principles, yet, it seems that this is the improvement that the organization had been looking forward to and by giving in to the pressure created by the WHO, the Turkish government seems to be helping it in every way possible.