CAPHRA calls out FCTC’s “Myths vs Facts” Campaign that Ignores Real-World THR Success

 

MANILA, Philippines, Radarseluma.disway.id-- The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) has strongly criticised the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) Secretariat for spreading a counterproductive message in its recent “Myths vs Facts” campaign on X, which categorically dismisses tobacco harm reduction (THR) as industry propaganda.

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The campaign, launched in early February, brands all non-traditional cessation tools — such as vapes, heated tobacco products, and oral nicotine — as “misinformation.” CAPHRA says this framing undermines public health innovation and ignores extensive real-world evidence and peer-reviewed data supporting safer nicotine alternatives.

 

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CAPHRA notes that the FCTC’s uncompromising stance comes despite its failure to meet its own 30% global tobacco use reduction target by 2025. Two decades after the treaty’s adoption by 182 countries, adult smoking prevalence still hovers at around 20%.

 

“By automatically dismissing every piece of evidence as ‘tobacco industry interference,’ the FCTC isolates itself from science,” CAPHRA said. “This political reflex perpetuates smoking-related harm, favouring illicit markets rather than public health.”

 

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