Earlier today, the Tholos Foundation submitted official comments to the Healthy Ministry of Bangladesh in regards to the proposed ban on e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn products, and oral nicotine pouches. The submission aimed at educating Bangladeshi health officials and lawmakers about the health benefits that current cigarette smokers can achieve by switching to a reduced-risk product.
“Bangladesh’s proposal to ban these products goes against all of the available science and data on reduced-risk nicotine products,” said Karl Abramson, Tholos’ Consumer Issues Fellow. “Our submission highlights that evidence and encourages Bangladeshi officials to fully consider the consequences of this proposal. With a national smoking rate of 34.7 (as of 2020), Bangladeshi citizens are in dire need of access to emerging technologies that allow for less harmful nicotine consumption.”
“We know that e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than smoking and an effective method of getting smokers to quit smoking or reduce their cigarette consumption. We know that heat-not-burn products (HNBs) are also significantly safer than smoking and have contributed to Japan’s 43% decrease in cigarette sales. To seek a ban on these products greatly reduces the chance that Bangladeshi smokers will be able to quit smoking.”
“Our submission also draws attention to an analysis from Georgetown University that predicts 6.6 million American lives could be saved by vaping. Considering that the smoking rate in Bangladesh is nearly triple America’s, we made clear to Bangladeshi officials that millions of Bangladeshi lives depend on access to reduced-risk alternatives. Moving forward with this proposal would be a death sentence for current smokers in the country.”
The full submission can be found here.