WHO tells electronic cigarette companies to stop using its name

By William Atkins
Saturday, 20 September 2008 21:00

Science - Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Friday, September 19, 2008, that companies marketing electronic cigarettes as safe and effective ways to stop smoking (anti-smoking therapies) should stop making such claims. WHO also wants them to stop using its name and logo.


Officials with the World Health Organization (WHO) state that the safety and effectiveness of electronic cigarettes have not been scientifically proven.

The WHO article “Marketers of electronic cigarettes should halt unproved therapy claims” states “Contrary to what some marketers of the electronic cigarette imply in their advertisements, the World Health Organization (WHO) does not consider it to be a legitimate therapy for smokers trying to quit.”

A WHO assistant director-general, Ala Alwan (of WHO’s Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health Cluster), states, "The electronic cigarette is not a proven nicotine replacement therapy. WHO has no scientific evidence to confirm the product's safety and efficacy. Its marketers should immediately remove from their web sites and other informational materials any suggestion that WHO considers it to be a safe and effective smoking cessation aid."

In fact, director of the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative, Douglas Bettcher, states, "The World Health Organization does not consider the electronic cigarette to be a legitimate nicotine replacement therapy.” [USA Today: “WHO: Electronic cigarette not anti-smoking therapy”]

An electronic cigarette (sometimes called an e-cigarette, or e-cig, is an alternative to the cigarette. It provides a small amount of the chemical nicotine with each inhalation.

You can learn more about the electronic cigarette at one of the websites offering the e-ig: http://minicigarette.net/.

Learn more about the electronic cigarette on page two. Also read more concerns the WHO has about the e-cig.