Doctors, teachers urge PM to ban E-cigarettes

Around 1,000 doctors, 90 public health organisations, 1,000 school students and teachers across the country have urged the prime minister to enforce effective ban on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) E-cigarettes.

Concerned about the aggressive promotion and marketing of ENDS as safe means for quitting smoking, public health activists have urged the prime minister and the Union Health Ministry to check the growing popularity of these products, especially among the youth.

A sub-committee constituted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on the health effects of ENDS felt that there was evidence to prove that ENDS and its variants were harmful to users. The committee, which comprised doctors, based its opinion on 251 studies/reports and concluded that ENDS were as harmful as any another tobacco product in terms of causing premature deaths and morbidity.

The medical communities across the globe have also questioned the acceptance of ENDS as a harm-reduction or tobacco-cessation strategy. About 36 countries around the world banned the sale of E-cigarettes due to its health harms.

About 13 states in India including Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Jarkhand and Mizoram already banned the use and sale of E-cigarettes, Vape & E-Hookah due to its health harms based on the advisory from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

However, a study conducted by Consumer Voice in five major cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Lucknow), found 36 brands of E-Cigarettes were available for purchase despite the ban.

"I treat patients suffering from cancers caused by tobacco use on a day-to-day basis. I observe that the tobacco industry is devising new ways and launching new products specially to lure the young generation. Currently, we are facing the new challenge of ENDS. Doctors are deeply concerned since it’s being promoted as a harm-reduction device. In reality, these new nicotine products are just another way for the companies to increase their profits," said Dr S Dinesh, Director and Head, Dept of Interventional Pulmonology, HCG Hospitals.