25 countries now ban e-cigs, says World Health Organization

E-cigarettes are banned by about one in eight of the globe’s nations, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

While 25 countries prohibit them altogether, a further 18 regulate them as tobacco products, and 12 treat them as medical products, says the international body in its 2015 Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic.

Analysing regulation of e-cigarettes and related technologies, which WHO terms “electronic nicotine delivery devices” (ENDS, or ENNDS for non-nicotine versions), the WHO also says that:

• 17 include them in national legislation on smoke-free environments.
• 13 cover e-cigarettes with national laws on advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
• Nine require health warnings.

Very broadly, the WHO figures seem to back up those given earlier in the year by researchers at the Institute for Global Tobacco Control at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.

They found that 70 out of 102 large countries have some form of e-cigarette regulation, and tend to control the products using existing laws relating to tobacco or nicotine.

What This Means: There are notable differences between the WHO and Johns Hopkins data, but these likely arise largely from the range of countries studied (the WHO’s membership of 194 nations includes virtually every one on Earth, while the university looked only at bigger countries).

It’s also worth noting that none of these figures include regional or local regulation, which – as we’re seeing in the U.S. particularly – can add up to a framework that’s not only every bit as restrictive as national law, but more complex too.

In any case, the precise numbers aren’t all that important. While the proportion of outright bans may be a gloomy reminder for the industry, the big takeaway from both the WHO and Johns Hopkins numbers is, surely, the reliance on tobacco models for e-cig regulation.

– Barnaby Page ECigIntelligence staff

Photo: Boston Public Library

Barnaby Page

Editorial director

Before joining ECigIntelligence in early 2014 as one of its first employees, Barnaby had a 30-year career as a reporter and editor for newspapers, magazines and online services, working in Canada, the US and the Middle East as well as his current British location. He has edited publications covering fields including technology and the advertising industry, and was launch editor of the first large daily online news service in the British regional media. Barnaby also writes on classical music and film for a number of publications. Barnaby manages the editorial and reporting teams and works closely with the analyst teams, to ensure that all content meets high standards of quality and relevance. He also writes for the site occasionally, mostly on science-related issues, and is a member of the Association of British Science Writers.