PHCC authors glaring omission
Why do the members of Aspire, in their detailed description about those taking up smoking being ignorant of risks and why this lack of knowledge is so significant healthwise, never in the whole piece mention that vapers are also ignorant of vaping risks? It is highly relevant, and a normal article of this nature, addressing an issue of ignorance of and addiction to a nicotine product would do so at least somewhere in the article, given the parallels and as NZ has a youth vaping epidemic, one of the worst in the first world.
https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/do-people-who-smoke-make-truly-informed-choices
Vapers risk of COPD, including emphysema, is 2.3 times!
(As stated in previous updates, the behaviour of the NZ governments, Labour and now the Coalition, in their effective support of vaping, with their criminal understating of risks and lack of real nicotine quitting programmes, plays to the tobacco vape corps and the government keeping NZ addicted to this money earner.
And this fits with the new weak regulations where vapes are still promoted as the great tobacco- quitting tool, highly accessible, risks understated and no decent quitting programmes.)
The same authors, plus one other, wrote the PHCC piece below, as addressed in an earlier petition update. It commends the government re the new regs, with mild criticism that it doesn't go far enough, and it states nothing about telling vapers the truth about vaping risks or a campaign to help people, especially youngsters, quit nicotine.
The underlying message is still that vaping is a highly recommended way to quit tobacco.
https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/new-vaping-bill-some-important-progress-critical-gaps-remain
PHCC is overall, with this latest piece just a small indicator, not acting as a 'public health communication centre' but a vape industry communication supporter while it acts in this particularly ineffectual way. For example, not arguing clearly even for the packeting of vape products to state established health concerns along with that of nicotine addiction, or more, such as the much needed nicotine addiction campaign, by the Coalition government.
Photo - from RNZ piece.