The Global Alliance for Tobacco Control (GATC) – which coordinates anti-nicotine NGOs at the WHO’s Conference of the Parties on tobacco control – has written to all COP delegates falsely claiming that “the evidence on the use of e-cigarettes as cessation aid is inconclusive”.
GATC, which yesterday slammed New Zealand – the country with the second lowest smoking rates in the developed world – for collusion with the tobacco industry, claims that existing research shows “that e-cigarettes are only effective for cessation in managed, clinical settings, and population studies conducted in uncontrolled settings do not indicate that these products assist smokers in quitting”.
What the evidence says
The Cochrane organisation, which is independent of the tobacco industry (or any other industry for that matter) has reviewed the totality of the evidence on vaping and quit rates for a number of years now, and their findings directly contradict GATC’s claims.
According to the organisation’s 2025 review, there is “high-certainty evidence that nicotine EC [electronic cigarettes] increase quit rates compared to NRT [nicotine replacement therapies]”. GATC’s bulletin notes that smokers can “surely benefit from long-term cessation support with Nicotine Replacement Therapy”.
The statement also contradicts the views of the Global Alliance’s own board members, including Cancer Research UK, whose own website talks of “growing evidence from around the world” that vaping helps people quit.
“Bloomberg babies”
The GATC article is written by representatives of Vital Strategies and the Center for Tobacco Free Kids. Both organisations were dubbed “Bloomberg babies” by David Zaruk, of The Firebreak, given their reliance on Michael Bloomberg for their financing.
Bloomberg has an outsized influence on the goings on at COP: of the 29 non governmental organisation permitted to attend, more than half are reliant on his organisations for funding.
