Dear CHIFA colleagues,
I invite you to comment on the topic of Tobacco, particularly from the perspective of child health.
We are now entering our fifth week of discussion and this week we focus on vaping.
Q5. What are the pros and cons of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS; vaping) (eg as an aid to stop smoking; as an addictive alternative to smoking among young people)?
Here are the other guiding questions:
1. Do people understand the health, socio-economic and environmental harms of using tobacco products? What matters to them? How can they be better informed?
2. Do health workers have adequate knowledge to prevent and treat tobacco addiction among their patients? What matters to them? How can they be better informed?
3. What is the role of the tobacco industry? What can be done to address misinformation from the tobacco industry?
4. Do public health professionals and policymakers have adequate knowledge to prevent and treat tobacco addiction in their country? What are current national policies and what more can be done to fully implement those policies?
Best wishes, Neil
CHIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA
is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org
