Alternative tobacco and nicotine products in Central America

Americas: The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), which serves as regional office for the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Americas, has praised Venezuela for its recently announced ban on heated tobacco. The PAHO says the ban is “one of the most important achievements of the Venezuelan public health in recent years and places the country at the forefront in the fight against tobacco and related products in the region”. The ban was foreseen by TobaccoIntelligence last month.

Panama: The Association for the Reduction of the Harm of Smoking has filed a suit asking the Supreme Court to declare Law 315 unconstitutional, press reports. While the suit specifically mentions e-cigarettes only, scrapping Law 315 would also end the current ban on the use and sale of heated tobacco.

Americas: Ahead of tomorrow’s World No Tobacco Day (31st May), Jarbas Barbosa, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), has warned that novel tobacco and nicotine products “threaten to undo decades of gains against tobacco use”. He said: “The tobacco industry and its allies do not rest. Currently, they spread a lot of misleading information that promotes, especially among young people, the use of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.”

Dominican Republic: Members of the centre-left Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), the ruling party, have reaffirmed support for a bill to regulate e-cigarettes and heated tobacco devices, including banning their sale to under-18s, press reports. The bill also has the backing of the opposition Fuerza del Pueblo (People’s Force) party.

Americas: The Pan American Health Organization, the regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO), has published a paper on “Taxation of novel and emerging nicotine and tobacco products (HTPs, ENDS, and ENNDS) globally and in Latin America”, analysing “the evolution and market structure” of heated tobacco and e-cigarettes, with and without nicotine, and proposes “possible elements of a good tax policy approach for countries to consider”. The paper makes extensive use of TobaccoIntelligence data.

Costa Rica: A bill imposing neutral packaging for tobacco products, including heated tobacco, has received the approval of the Legislative Assembly Social Affairs Committee, press reports. The bill, which would also ban advertising and increase the size of health warnings from 50% to 80% of the package area, will now go to the full Assembly to be voted on in two debates.

Americas: The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), which serves as regional office for the World Health Organization (WHO), has published a 148-page Report on Tobacco Control for the Region of the Americas 2022. The report considers the increasing availability of heated tobacco products as a challenge that impedes the progress of tobacco control. It says: “Terms such as reduced harm or reduced risk tend to confuse people and provide a false sense of security in circumstances where there is no scientific evidence to demonstrate that the consumption of so-called reduced-harm products is safe for health.” And it adds: “The main objective of the marketing strategies for these products is ultimately to attract new users while being able to satiate current tobacco users who wish to quit.”