Tobacco control expert challenges Scotland to dismiss industry interference and support only medically licensed quit smoking aids

A Senior Policy Advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) is challenging Scotland to dismiss industry attempts at influencing health policy and uphold its evidence-based precautionary stance against recommending e-cigarettes to be used in quit smoking attempts. The call comes ahead of today’s (Tuesday 17 December) Health Committee scrutiny of the Scottish Government’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill Legislative Consent Memorandum at Holyrood.

Backed by 40 years of experience in tobacco control, Professor Judith Mackay, who completed her medical training at Edinburgh University in 1966 and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, encourages Committee members not to allow tobacco industry connected submissions such as those from the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) and the Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF) to shape health policy as their involvement in deliberations other than pragmatic implementation runs contrary to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Article 5.3.

WHO describes tobacco industry interests as ‘fundamentally and irreconcilably opposed’ to the aims of public health’ and they and their vested or commercial interests are permitted to be consulted only after health policies have been fully developed and engagement should be limited to the extent necessary to implement regulations.

A Special Advisor to the Global Center for Good Governance on Tobacco Control and an Honorary Professor at the University of Hong Kong, Professor Mackay, said: “The tobacco, vaping, and nicotine industries are essentially the same in my view. They should have absolutely no input when health policies are being developed. It’s deeply disappointing to see that the Scottish Parliament’s Health Committee has opened its doors to risk interference by the tobacco industry’s business associates.

“Tobacco control will never truly be achieved until governments and parliaments fully address industry interference by shutting out Big Tobacco’s capability to distort public health debates and disrupt or delay regulation of addictive health-harming products.”

Sheila Duffy, Chief Executive of health charity ASH Scotland, said: “The failure of the Health Committee to follow WHO public health treaty guidelines sends a troubling signal to the global tobacco control community that our processes for developing progressive health policies are being exposed to the risk of interference by profit-motivated, health-harming industry interests. These businesses are not public health stakeholders and should not be treated as such.”

Professor Mackay pointed to the success of Hong Kong, where smoking rates now stand at just 9 per cent, lower than Scotland’s 15 per cent. This achievement follows the region’s ban on the manufacture, importation, and sale of e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and herbal cigarettes in recent years.

Professor Mackay said: “Hong Kong has clearly demonstrated that e-cigarettes are not needed to bring smoking rates down – a fact that the tobacco industry really dislikes! Vapes don’t help quit smoking rates at population level and I think Scotland is wise to be cautious in not positively recommending their use for smoking cessation.”

Sheila Duffy added: “WHO’s clinical treatment guidelines for adult tobacco cessation provide recommendations on the use of behavioural support delivered in both clinical and community settings but do not include e-cigarettes as current evidence is not strong enough to recommend their use for tobacco cessation.

“In aligning with Scotland’s consensus on e-cigarettes, NHS Scotland’s Quit your Way services welcome people wishing to quit smoking, but only positively recommend medically licensed quit aids, which have strong evidence as being effective and are tested, monitored, quality-controlled and medicinally supervised under a health professional’s advice.

“ASH Scotland hopes that the MSPs participating in today’s committee session are inspired by Professor Mackay’s words, which are spoken with unrivalled credibility based on decades of global tobacco control experience, to take on and challenge the profiteering tobacco industry and its health harming addictive products.”

ASH Scotland CEO Sheila Duffy’s conversation with Professor Judith Mackay on our YouTube channel can be viewed here.