CAPHRA Condemns WHO’s Outdated Tobacco Reporting

Thursday, 17 April 2025, 1:32 pm
Press Release: CAPHRA

14 April 2025

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) today accused the World Health Organisation (WHO) of failing millions by neglecting to update its Global Report on the Tobacco Epidemic since July 2023, while ignoring overwhelming scientific evidence supporting tobacco harm reduction (THR) strategies.

“Two years of silence from WHO on global tobacco trends is two years of missed opportunities to save lives,” said Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of CAPHRA.

“Their 2023 report deliberately sidelined peer-reviewed evidence on safer nicotine alternatives, prioritising ideology over science. With the next report expected in July 2025, we demand WHO end this dangerous negligence and finally acknowledge solutions that could prevent millions of smoking-related deaths.”

The WHO’s 2023 report faced criticism for dismissing reduced-risk products like vaping and heated tobacco devices, despite their proven role in helping smokers quit lethal combustible cigarettes. CAPHRA’s independent 2023 Shadow Report exposed how WHO’s abstinence-only approach has exacerbated health inequalities and left 600 million smokers in the region without safer alternatives.

Loucas noted the human cost of this intransigence: “While WHO bureaucrats recycle outdated tactics, 1.3 million people in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific die annually from smoking-related illnesses. These are preventable tragedies, not inevitable statistics. The 2025 report must abandon moral posturing and embrace evidence-based strategies that actually work.”

CAPHRA’s analysis highlights stark disparities in tobacco policies. New Zealand, having achieved its Smokefree 2025 goal ahead of schedule with smoking rates dropping below 5% across all groups, demonstrates the success of harm reduction strategies. Conversely, countries adhering to WHO’s prohibitionist stance, like India and Thailand, maintain smoking rates above 20% while battling rampant illicit tobacco markets.

“WHO’s upcoming report is a litmus test for its commitment to public health,” Loucas said. “Will they finally recognise that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking, as concluded by Public Health England? Or continue peddling the fiction that nicotine patches and cold turkey are the only acceptable solutions?”

Loucas stressed that without a shift towards evidence-based policies, WHO risks further eroding its credibility amid growing scrutiny of its governance. “Health leadership requires intellectual honesty,” she concluded.

“As WHO prepares its 2025 report, we urge officials to consult independent scientists rather than anti-nicotine activists. Millions of lives depend on their willingness to confront reality.”

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