Tag: SHEER

Critics: EU Committee Ignores Science
Photo: pavel_shishkin
The European Commission has missed an opportunity to bolster its Beating Cancer Plan and recognize the importance of vaping in reducing smoking-related diseases among Europeans, according to the Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA).
A recent report from the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) fails to compare the risks of electronic cigarette use with the risks of smoking, the IEVA noted in a statement. “Such an omission renders the report of little use to policymakers,” it wrote. “An assessment of the impact e-cigarettes have had on European public health must be informed by this evidence.”
Independent and publicly funded scientific research has shown that e-cigarette use is far less harmful than smoking, according to the IEVA.
“The SCHEER committee has failed to present scientific data on vaping in a comprehensive and balanced manner,” said Dustin Dahlmann, president of the IEVA. “The result is a report that is little more than a series of baseless predetermined assertions. Another opportunity to educate smokers willing to switch to less harmful alternatives has been wasted, and this alone has serious public health implications. We urge decision-makers in Brussels to integrate harm reduction in their overall strategy.”

Another opportunity to educate smokers willing to switch to less harmful alternatives has been wasted.
Dustin Dahlmann, president, IEVA
An earlier draft of this report was put to public consultation in September 2020 and was widely criticized. Yet, the final report reiterates the core findings of the initial draft.
A comprehensive critique of this draft was published in the peer-reviewed Harm Reduction Journal. The authors assert that “the opinion’s conclusions are not adequately backed up by scientific evidence and did not discuss the potential health benefits of using alternative combustion-free nicotine-containing products as [a] substitute for tobacco cigarettes.”
The Harm Reduction Journal report recommends seven crucial areas that the committee should have considered to address this significant deficit, but SCHEER has decided not to do so. These were:
The potential health benefits of ENDS substitution for cigarette smoking;
Alternative hypotheses and contradictory studies on the gateway effect;
Its assessment of cardiovascular risk;
The measurements of frequency of use;
Non-nicotine use;
The role of flavors; and
A fulsome discussion of cessation.
Earlier this week, the World Vaper Alliance expressed similar concerns about the SHEER report.
May 3, 2021
Vapor Group Dismayed by Final SHEER Report

Photo: Parilov
The EU Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) final report on e-cigarettes is a step backward for Europe, according to the World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA). Based on weak data, it ignores crucial scientific evidence, experience from consumers and the expert opinions received in the consultation period, the advocacy group said in a statement.
“This report is a tragedy for public health and will have dire consequences for smokers and vapers alike,” said Michael Landl, director of the WVA. “SCHEER ignores a large amount of scientific evidence on vaping, all of which was provided by experts and consumers to SCHEER during their consultation earlier this year. They chose to ignore it. This is a slap in the face of vapers and of common sense.”
According to the WVA, the report does not consider crucial independent evidence from Public Health England, which shows that e-cigarettes are 95 percent less harmful than smoking and recently found that vaping is the most used means to quit smoking.
“Countries like the U.K. and France are actively encouraging smokers to use vaping and switch to this less harmful alternative,” said Landl. “If the EU really wants to tackle smoking-related illnesses, it needs to look very carefully at all of the evidence. Unfortunately, the SCHEER report is biased against vaping, and its recommendations, if transposed into legislation, will damage public health.”
This report is a tragedy for public health and will have dire consequences for smokers and vapers alike.
Michael Landl, director, WVA
The next few months will see further legislation updates in the EU as outlined in Europe’s Beating Cancer plan, including updates to the Tobacco Products Directive and the Tobacco Excise Directive. In this context, the findings of the SCHEER committee may ultimately be detrimental to the health of Europe’s citizens.
“It seems like the main objective has been overlooked: reducing the number of smokers and tackling smoking-induced illnesses,” said Landl. “Vaping is not smoking and must not be treated the same. Regulation must be drafted in a way that encourages current smokers to switch. The EU needs to focus on practical solutions to reduce harm, and this major point is missing from the SCHEER analysis. Vaping can help smokers quit, but this report ignores that and compares vaping to nonsmoking. So it is unsurprising that the results don’t echo reality.”
The full SCHEER report is here.
April 29, 2021
SHEER Opinion on Novel Products Due Friday

Photo: andriano_cz
The European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) is due to present its opinion on novel tobacco products Friday.
The opinion is part of an assessment of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), which will determine whether e-cigarettes will be treated the same way as traditional cigarettes.
SHEER’s preliminary opinion published in September 2020 drew strong criticism of several stakeholders who accused the EU of being selective in its findings when it comes to their health implications.
“Research in recent years, after the adoption of TPD in 2014, has become increasingly positive about e-cigarettes, always as a substitute for smoking,” Konstantinos Farsalinos of the University of Patras told Eurarchiv. “Compared to 2014, one would expect a more positive attitude. On the contrary, EU policymakers remain scientifically unsubstantiated with the risk of sabotaging the efforts to replace smoking with e-cigarettes,” he said.
Pietro Fiocchi, a member of the European Parliament from the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, expressed concern about increased smoking if the EU Commission decides to equate novel tobacco products with traditional ones.
“My impression is that the Commission is against a differentiation between traditional tobacco and reduced-risk products, and it will plan to apply the same limitations through heavy regulations and fiscal impositions,” he said.
“We all agree that not smoking at all is the best solution, but it would be detrimental if SCHEER will ignore plenty of scientific studies that show much smaller health impact of reduced-risk products versus traditional tobacco,” said Fiocchi.
April 28, 2021
‘SHEER Report ‘Fundamentally Flawed’
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A scientific report on e-cigarettes prepared for the European Commission is fundamentally flawed, according to the Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA).
As part of the European Commission’s forthcoming review of the Tobacco Products Directive, the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) Committee was tasked with producing a scientific review of the health effects of e-cigarettes. On Sept. 23, SHEER adopted its preliminary opinion. The public consultation on the preliminary opinion closed on Oct. 26.
“While we welcome the initiative from the European Commission in taking a view on the science of electronic cigarettes, the draft report it has produced is fundamentally flawed,” IEVA wrote. “What is most striking about the draft scientific review is its failure to compare the risks of electronic cigarette use with the risks of smoking.”
In its response to the preliminary opinion, IEVA cited several areas of concern:
The Committee has concluded that there is insufficient evidence that e-cigarettes are not a useful tool for smokers seeking alternatives, despite quoting two randomized control trials stating precisely the opposite.
In its risk assessment, the Committee has not taken a risk-based approach at all, but rather a hazard-based approach. It states the potential risks of using e-cigarettes without even attempting to compare these with the risks from cigarette smoking, which are exponentially higher.
The Committee has concluded that there is strong evidence that e-cigarettes act as a “gateway” to smoking. However, it has done so based almost exclusively on data from the United States, where an entirely different regulatory regime exists. The Committee also fails to acknowledge that smoking among young people has declined significantly: if vaping leads to smoking, then why are there not more smokers observed during the period where the e-cigarette market grew rapidly?
According to IEVA, the poorly founded conclusions undermine the utility of the report as a document upon which EU decisionmakers can make policy decisions in the best interests of Europeans.
Earlier this week, British American Tobacco voiced similar concerns about the SHEER report.
November 3, 2020