British experts have accused the World Health Organisation of risking the lives of millions by urging governments to crack down on vaping.
The United Nations’ public health body said e-cigarettes were “harmful” because they were hooking new generations on nicotine.
In a new report on efforts to tackle smoking globally, the WHO warns that many countries are “not addressing emerging nicotine and tobacco products and failing to regulate them”.
It said that vaping risked undoing years of progress to “denormalise” smoking and e-cigarettes, consumed in the style of cigarettes, could “renormalise” the practice.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, said: “Nicotine is highly addictive. Electronic nicotine delivery systems are harmful and must be better regulated.”
Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York who
