WHO report says ENDS threaten tobacco control efforts, ‘re-normalise smoking’

Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) are threatening to undermine decades of efforts to reduce smoking, according to a new annual report from the World Health Organization (WHO) on global tobacco control progress.

The study, which tracks countries’ tobacco control activities since 2008, raises concerns over widespread lack of regulation for ENDS across the globe, the industry’s harm-reduction claims over these products, and the risks associated with ENDS re-normalising smoking behaviour.