The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) condemns the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Secretariat for permitting Bloomberg-funded prohibitionist NGOs to dictate policy narratives at COP11, directly contradicting the treaty’s foundational principles.

The “Dirty Ashtray Award” presented to New Zealand exposes a fundamental corruption of the FCTC process. The Secretariat has allowed ideologically-driven NGOs to write unaccountable rules, then shame countries refusing compliance with a prohibitionist script disconnected from real-world health outcomes.

This has nothing to do with saving lives. It is about control.

New Zealand’s smoking rate of 6.8 per cent – one of the world’s lowest – proves harm reduction works. Yet the country faces international mockery for empowering smokers with evidence-based alternatives. Meanwhile, nations with double New Zealand’s smoking prevalence receive praise for rhetoric alone.

The latest youth data released on 30 November 2025 demonstrates New Zealand’s nuanced success. Youth vaping rates have halved since their 2021 peak, with daily vaping among Year 10 students dropping to 7.1 per cent from 10.1 per cent in 2022. Critically, youth daily smoking is now “negligible” at just 1 per cent – a generational achievement led by comprehensive harm reduction policy. Emeritus Professor Robert Beaglehole of Action on Smoking and Health declared this “a major global success which we should be celebrating … we are leading the way.”

Yet the award ignores this nuance. New Zealand balances adult smoker support with youth protection through regulated access to vaping, disposal bans, retail restrictions, and increased penalties for selling to minors – penalties rising from $5,000 to $10,000 for individuals and $10,000 to $100,000 for corporations as of December 2024.

Supporting countries at COP11 – including Canada, Sweden, Germany, Serbia, and others championing transparency, consumer engagement, and science-based policy – demonstrate the treaty has strayed from its purpose. These delegations recognise what the FCTC Secretariat refuses: countries must develop policies suited to their specific contexts and populations.

CAPHRA Executive Coordinator Nancy Loucas condemned the authoritarian approach. “The suggestion that any country or advocate supporting harm reduction must be aligned with industry is unacceptable. It shuts down legitimate scientific discussion. Public health decisions should be based on evidence, not ideological purity tests.”

The chart of COP11 positions reveals stark divisions. New Zealand, Serbia, Albania, Guinea-Bissau, North Macedonia, Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis demand transparency and inclusion. Canada, New Zealand, and Sweden engage consumers and lived experience. Germany, Sweden, and New Zealand champion independent science showing pouches 99 per cent less harmful than cigarettes.

Yet the FCTC Secretariat permits NGOs to frame harm reduction as an “industry tool,” ignoring independent research and real health gains closing health equity gaps for Māori and Pacific communities.

CAPHRA demands the FCTC Secretariat enforce treaty obligations. The FCTC exists for countries to develop policies for their situations – not for NGOs to enforce ideological conformity.

Loucas added: “Not all products carry the same risk, and not all countries face the same challenges. Treating every viewpoint that is not prohibition as suspicious makes it impossible to design effective, proportionate policies. Innovation, updated evidence, and diverse contexts must guide public health – not Bloomberg’s agenda.”

With eight million tobacco deaths annually, the time for accountability is now. The FCTC must choose: serve public health or serve prohibitionist gatekeepers.

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) today urged Malaysian authorities to reject counterproductive bans on vaping and adopt risk-proportionate regulations, citing the World Health Organization’s (WHO) persistent neglect of harm reduction strategies as a key driver of preventable smoking-related deaths.

The call comes as Malaysia faces pressure to tighten vaping controls under the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852), with state-level bans and stricter nicotine limits threatening progress. CAPHRA warns such measures risk replicating failed prohibition in Bhutan and South Africa, where bans fuelled illicit markets and health risks.

Professor Dr. Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh emphasised: “Enforcing stricter controls on high-risk products over safer alternatives is better than outright bans. Malaysia must differentiate between combustible cigarettes and harm reduction tools.”

Echoing this, Samsul Arrifin Kamal of MOVE Malaysia stated: “We firmly believe that an outright ban on vape products is counterproductive and could lead to unintended consequences, including the proliferation of black market activities.  The solution lies in implementing stricter controls, risk proportionate regulations and robust enforcement mechanisms. By establishing clear guidelines for the production, sale and use of vape products, we can ensure consumer safety.” 

CAPHRA criticised the WHO’s outdated stance, which ignores vaping’s role in smoking cessation. Despite Malaysia’s illicit tobacco trade dominating 55.3% of the market in 2023, WHO projects smoking rates will rise to 30% by 2025 – contrasting sharply with Sweden’s 5% rate achieved through harm reduction.

“The WHO’s anti-harm reduction dogma costs lives,” said Nancy Loucas, CAPHRA Executive Coordinator. “Malaysia must choose: follow failed prohibition or evidence. Sweden’s success proves science trumps ideology.”

While Act 852 introduced nicotine caps and health warnings, proposals to ban vaping in states like Selangor and Johor risk fragmenting policy. CAPHRA urges federal-state harmonisation to avoid undermining progress.

With 68% of Malaysian ex-smokers crediting vaping for quitting combustibles, CAPHRA calls for expanding regulated access while pressuring the WHO to revise its stance. “Malaysia can lead ASEAN by prioritising 5 million smokers’ health over outdated rhetoric,” Loucas concluded. 

COP10 will be held in Panama in November. It is hosted by the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

CAPHRA (Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates) executive co-coordinator Nancy Loucas says: ‘This exclusion of the consumer voice has been one of the main reasons for the misinformation, disinformation and failures of current tobacco control policy around nicotine – including vaping, snus and heated tobacco products.’

She says the FCTC has a mandate to not only pursue Harm Reduction as a core tobacco control policy, but also to involve and include civil society. However, there has yet to be a signatory country which has made the progressive and inclusive call to include consumer stakeholders in their delegations.

This is not the first time members of CAPHRA have written to governments sending delegates to 2023. Late last year they urged them to review the evidence which supports a Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) approach. It included comprehensive reference material for countries’ COP10 planning, submission writing, and deliberations.

‘Consumers are an untapped experience and knowledgebase who are not represented inclusively in the FCTC process… Delegates to COP10 should be representing the rights and aspirations of the citizens,’ the latest letter outlines.

The letter also makes clear that adults have the right to make choices that help them avoid adverse health outcomes and people who smoke have the right to access less harmful nicotine products as alternatives to combustible and unsafe tobacco. What’s more, they have the right to participate in the policy making process that directly impacts their right to health and wellbeing.

‘As you are undoubtedly aware, the FCTC has a mandate to pursue Harm Reduction. While everyone agrees on the desirability of getting all consumers to stop smoking, arguments concerning means to achieve this have been divisive and, in many cases, complicated, often with deliberate misinformation,’ writes the latest letter to government delegations.

Ms Loucas says it’s outrageously undemocratic that the current process does not allow for engagement and involvement of the main policy stakeholders – the adult consumer community.

“Not only does the FCTC choose to ignore growing international science, it bans from the table the very voice of those who utilise these products to switch away from the deadly forms of tobacco,” says Ms Loucas

The THR advocate says the member organisations of CAPHRA will continue to call on delegates to COP10 to deplore FCTC’s policy to make these sessions closed-door, unaccountable, and unreported – representing only vested interests.

“Millions have successfully used vaping to move away from combustibles and unsafe oral nicotine products, yet the FCTC looks set to bury its head in the sand again at COP10. CAPHRA believes visiting delegations must include a consumer voice to give at least some balance to all the misinformation,” says Ms Loucas.

Her comments follow several leading international Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) experts compiling and publishing ‘The Subversion of Public Health: Consumer Perspectives’. It slams the World Health Organization’s (WHO) systematic campaign against, and lies about, vaping. Since its publication it has attracted considerable readership and media attention.

‘E-cigarette use had surged greatly among high school students and young adults over the last decade but fortunately has declined significantly since its peak in 2019. During the same time period, smoking rates have constantly fallen to new low record levels. These trends argue against EC use as a gateway to smoking,’ observed the white paper authors. 

The paper notes that vaping by adolescents and young adults is a legitimate concern. However, it provides comprehensive references from medical doctors, researchers and government-funded agencies which all refute any claims made about the gateway theory.

“The white paper provides considerable updated information on vaping patterns among adolescents and young adults in the United States. What it proves beyond doubt is that vaping is an offramp to smoking not an onramp,” says Ms Loucas. 

The THR advocate says another complete misnomer the WHO and international media love to perpetuate is that there is a youth vaping epidemic. Again, the white paper refutes and disproves this claim with considerable research. 

‘According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), the youth vaping rate in the United States has been in steady decline since 2020. CDC data has shown that youth vaping has plummeted by 60% over the past two years. Only 3.1 percent of high-school age and 0.3% of middle-school age students used e-cigarettes daily,’ reads the white paper. 

“All we’re asking for is evidence-based and objective policy discussions, decisions, and risk proportionate regulations. November 2023 will see COP10 where the eyes of the world will be on the WHO and the many international delegates as to whether they’ll finally start embracing the evidence, not perpetuating the emotion about safer nicotine products,” says Ms Loucas.

Recently CAPHRA’s nine member organisations wrote to FCTC delegation heads from around the world, and health ministers and leaders, urging them to review the evidence which supports a THR approach ahead of COP10.

COP10 will be held in Panama and is hosted by the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). 

“We will continue to publish and challenge key aspects of the WHO’s advice to signatories and delegates of the FCTC. Waging war against the most effective smoking cessation tool in the world – vaping – is not working and continues to cost millions of smokers’ lives every year,” says Nancy Loucas. 

‘The Subversion of Public Health: Consumer Perspectives’ was presented by Ms Loucas at the recent Fifth Asia Harm Reduction Forum (AHRF 2022). To read the full white paper, visit: https://caphraorg.net/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/white-paper-subversion_of_public_health.pdf

For a free digital media repository on tobacco harm reduction in Asia Pacific – including media releases, images, and graphics – please visit https://apthrmedia.org

A key question WHO poses is: ‘Are e-cigarettes more or less dangerous than conventional tobacco cigarettes?’ CAPHRA says WHO should have unequivocally answered this with ‘less’. Instead, it puts vaping and smoking on the same footing, declaring that ‘both tobacco products and ENDS pose risks to health. The safest approach is not to use either.’

“If you were a smoker desperate to quit reading this Q&A, you’d likely stay smoking. WHO refuses to differentiate between vaping and smoking. At best it completely deflects from answering what are very simple and straight-forward questions. More so, it delivers lie after lie,” says Ms Loucas.

“The fact that WHO even poses a question about whether vaping is more or less dangerous than smoking is a disgrace. Rather than giving a straight one worded answer, WHO refuses to acknowledge international science that has repeatedly confirmed vaping is considerably less harmful than smoking,” she says.

CAPHRA believes WHO’s suggestion of parity between smoking and vapingis deeply unethical and could have serious health consequences if it causes people to abandon ENDS for cigarettes or not to switch.

“No respectable scientist believes that ENDS are even close to the risk of smoking. In fact, Public Health England stands resolute behind the finding that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking combustible cigarettes,” she says.

CAPHRA concludes that by kicking off the ‘question and answer’ page with such an inflammatory question, which WHO then refuses to clearly answer, is designed to introduce an ‘anchoring bias’ into its public health guidance.

“WHO does its best to establish the idea that the question on everyone’s mind is whether ENDs are as dangerous as cigarettes. By then suggesting parity of risk, the reader is left with a best-case scenario that vaping is probably just as bad as smoking. Outrageously, WHO continues to defy science and totally ignore the experiences of consumers worldwide,” she says.

For anyone left wondering after reading WHO’s questions and answers on e-cigarettes, CAPHRA is now compiling a comprehensive dossier of references from medical doctors, researchers and government-funded agencies. All of these will categorically refute the claims made by WHO in its guidance.

CAPHRA says while WHO continues to dig in on its unjustifiable anti-vaping position, internationalFCTC ( Framework Convention on Tobacco Control) delegates have an opportunity next year to ensure public health guidance on vaping finally reflects the reality: It’s saving smokers’ lives as an effective and harm reduced smoking cessation tool.

Panama is set to host WHO’s 10th FCTC Conference of Parties (COP10) in 2023, which will seedelegates having discussions and making recommendations on safer nicotine products.

“About 70 countries have already ignored WHO’s anti-vaping crusade and regulated vaping. Countries at next year’s COP10 need to fully understand that millions of smokers’ lives will depend on their discussions and decisions. It’s well overdue for WHO to follow the evidence, rather than winding up baseless and constant hysteria,” says Nancy Loucas.

Boasting over 15,000 testimonials, CAPHRA is calling on those who’ve quit cigarettes through smoke-free nicotine alternatives to tell their story onwww.righttovape.org

For a free digital media repository on tobacco harm reduction in Asia Pacific – including media releases, images and graphics – please visit https://apthrmedia.org

sCOPe’s return on #WVD22 and #WNTD22 follows its around-the-clock five-day livestream in November last year during COP9 – the 9th Conference of Parties for the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Nancy Loucas, of CAPHRA (Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates), says sCOPe22 will add to the growing international pressure on WHO to embrace safer nicotine products, not demonize them.

“The global evidence is overwhelmingly in favour of vaping, yet hundreds of millions of smokers are blocked from accessing harm reduced alternatives. sCOPe22 will reveal what exactly is going on here,” says Ms Loucas.

In the Asia Pacific region alone, The Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand are set to join nearly 70 countries worldwide which have ignored WHO’s anti-vaping campaign and have instead regulated safer nicotine products. Each country has since reported dramatic declines in their overall smoking rates.

“We are the evidence! Not only is vaping an incredibly effective smoking cessation tool, but it’s deemed 95% less harmful than combustible tobacco. It’s utter madness for WHO to keep directing huge public health resource into bullying countries to ban these life-saving products. sCOPe22 will explore the motivation and money behind WHO’s actions,” says Ms Loucas.

On WVD22 on 30 May, sCOPe22 will broadcast via https://bit.ly/3GlEvn9

On WNTD22 on 31 May, sCOPe22 will broadcast via https://bit.ly/3wMKyg1

THR organizations set to feature include European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (ETHRA), Campaign for Safer Alternatives in Africa (CASA), Vaping Saved My Life South Africa (VSML) Association of Vapers India (AVI), the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA).

The Americas are also well represented with Latin American-based ARDT Iberoamerica, Rights For Vapers Canada (R4V), the Tobacco Harm Reduction Association of Canada (THRA), and United States-based Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA).

“sCOPe22 is a global collaboration and our simple message is THR works,” says Ms Loucas. “We’re encouraging people from around the world to watch, listen and learn, as well as join the conversation. We have some wonderful advocates and experts lined up.

“COP10 will take place in 2023 with harm reduced products set to be a key discussion for delegates. Our work now is critical to achieving success next year. In fact, this year’s World Vape Day and World No Tobacco Day have never been more important,” says Nancy Loucas.

A global collaboration of THR consumer groups, sCOPe, has launched a comprehensive library of online panel discussions and presentations. To access sCOPe’s online library, visit https://bit.ly/3PG9lel

For a free digital media repository on tobacco harm reduction in Asia Pacific – including media releases, images and graphics – please visit https://apthrmedia.org

Mr Saligupta’s comments follow the Public Health Minister publicly claiming his Ministry will not support legalization during a meeting with the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth).

“He is playing politics. After his abysmal handling of the pandemic, among other things, he could easily lose his seat in Thailand’s upcoming general election. He’s simply panicking but has completely under-estimated the wide support for legalizing and regulating vaping,” says Mr Saligupta.

With draft legislation before a sub-committee, the ECST Director remains confident that the vaping bill will be passed by Thailand’s parliament this year.

“The Thai Government can and will regulate safer nicotine products regardless of what one Minister says. Let’s not forget that Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, government officials, and public health experts have all been key to finally confronting Thailand’s failed tobacco control policies,” he says.

Mr Saligupta says Thailand’s harsh ban and penalties on vape imports and sales have failed.

“Smoking continues to kill about 50,000 Thai people each and every year. Too many smokers have been stuck with cigarettes or are forced onto the black market for vapes where there’s no control over the purchase age or product safety standards. An effective Public Health Minister would not accept this dire situation, let alone support it,” he says.

ECST believes it’s no surprise the Minister made his anti-vaping statement to ThaiHealth board members. Its senior adviser Dr Prakit Vathesatogkit was recently awarded the Dr Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize by the World Health Organization (WHO) for his work against tobacco. He has also been a high-profile voice against legalizing vaping.

“ThaiHealth along with some local conservative health voices continue to publicly scaremonger, conveniently ignoring the growing Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) success globally. By joining the minority, Thailand’s Public Health Minister is now among an increasingly isolated crowd who continue to follow the WHO’s discredited anti-vape agenda,” he says.

Mr Saligupta says ignoring the WHO, nearly 70 countries have now adopted regulatory frameworks on safer nicotine products, leading to dramatic declines in their overall smoking rates. The Philippines and Malaysia are also set to legalize vaping.

“Thankfully the Thai Government remains on the right side of the debate. Regulating will give consumers better protection, encourage more smokers to quit deadly cigarettes, and ensure we have much better control over youth vaping with a strict purchase age,” he says.

ECST says THR experts and advocates from around the world have been alarmed at Mr Charnvirakul’s latest comments.

In recent months, applause and accolades have come from around the world as Thai politicians and officials have committed to following significant international public health evidence and best practice.

“As someone who has been living and breathing this legalization journey over several years, I can assure everyone there is nothing to see here. Thailand’s sky-high smoking rate is set to be finally addressed with legal vape sales and product regulation now imminent,” says Mr Saligupta.

CAPHRA says considerable and effective advocacy from local consumer groups over recent years was key to the Government’s decision last year to legalise liquid nicotine and move forward with regulation.

Malaysian vape advocates and users also applaud the Ministry of Health’s efforts as it now prepares the new act to strictly regulate the safety and sale of vaping products.

“High product standards are critical, ensuring all vaping products sold in the open market have guaranteed safety. We also support the regulation of all online sales and advertising in line with tobacco products to protect our youth,” says Samsul Kamal Ariffin, President of MOVE (Malaysian Organization of Vape Entities) and CAPHRA member.

He says regulating vape liquids and lifting the sales ban will see Malaysia’s smoking rate fall considerably. Giving smokers much better access to harm reduced products will reduce the serious health risks and unnecessary deaths associated with combustible tobacco.

“I am proud that the Malaysian Government has pushed back on the World Health Organization’s anti-vaping agenda. As an ex-smoker, vaping has improved my health and arguably saved my life yet the WHO has pressured countries like mine to ban it. Thankfully our Government and Ministry of Health have instead listened to the many citizens like me who’ve had considerable success with vaping,” says Mr Ariffin.

Malaysia is one of the largest vape markets in the world despite nicotine long being illegal to sell except for medical purposes. With progressive vaping legislation set to be enacted and risk-proportionate regulation imminent, MOVE believes the country’s public health and international reputation will only strengthen.

Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of CAPHRA, says MOVE and other Malaysian vaping advocates have worked tirelessly with the Government and health officials to shift vaping from a heavily restricted medicalised product to being a more accessible option for smokers keen to quit.

“Despite its incredible effectiveness in reducing smoking rates and deaths, many countries in Asia-Pacific still insist on banning vaping. Malaysia’s pending legislation and regulation will send a big message to the world that vaping is the future, not a foe,” says Nancy Loucas.

A new global collaboration of THR consumer groups, sCOPe, has now launched a comprehensive library of online panel discussions and presentations. In November, sCOPe broadcast around the clock during COP9 – the 9th Conference of Parties for the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). To access sCOPe’s online library visit, https://bit.ly/319zzkx

Boasting nearly 15,000 testimonials, CAPHRA is calling on those who’ve quit cigarettes through smoke-free nicotine alternatives to tell their story on www.righttovape.org

For a free digital media repository on tobacco harm reduction in Asia Pacific – including media releases, images and graphics – please visit https://apthrmedia.org

“We salute his bravery at COP9 for promoting the Philippines’ balanced and evidence-based approach to safer nicotine products,” says Peter Dator, president of consumer group Vapers PH and CAPHRA member. “Opponents and officials have since done their best to discredit Secretary Locsin and disrespect our country’s democracy and sovereignty, but they have failed badly.”

Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of CAPHRA (Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates), says it’s pleasing to see top Filipino politicians rally around Secretary Locsin, with the global vaping community also voicing its strong support via social media.

“In a world where smoking causes eight million deaths every year, Secretary Locsin has done everyone a huge favour. Telling COP9 about the success of ‘far less harmful novel tobacco products’ and the Philippine Government’s political support for them was music to the ears of the millions who’ve successful quit deadly cigarettes, via vaping,” she says.

During COP9 – the 9th Conference of Parties for the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) – Ms Loucas organised a global livestream, featuring world-leading THR experts and consumer advocates.

Dubbed sCOPe, the five-day YouTube simulcast attracted a significant audience globally, adding to the increasing pressure on the WHO to embrace safer nicotine products, rather than pushing to ban them.

“How can we trust the WHO and the FCTC when they are afraid of science? In this age of fake news and alternative facts, it is important for governments to take a stand for the facts and know how to sift through the propaganda. This is what Secretary Locsin did at COP9, and I join the Philippine Cabinet and Congress in commending his actions,” says Mr Dator.

To view Mr Dator’s message to COP9 delegates visit: https://youtu.be/g0pYPmRXxM8

Secretary Locsin’s speech at COP9 and other key moments will be analysed during a post-sCOPe wrap-up and discussion. sCOPe’s COP9 awards will also announced. It will be broadcast at https://bit.ly/30v701b from 6pm (Hong Kong Time) or 10am (GMT) on Wednesday, 17 November.

CAPHRA is calling on those who’ve quit cigarettes through smoke-free nicotine alternatives to tell their story on www.righttovape.org, and add to the more than 14,000 testimonials available.

For a free digital media repository on tobacco harm reduction in Asia Pacific – including media releases, images and graphics – please visit

Dubbed sCOPe, the YouTube simulcast will focus on COP9, the 9th Conference of Parties for the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Despite being shut out of COP9, vapers have vowed they will not be silenced.

Featuring world-leading Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) experts and consumer advocates, sCOPe will challenge COP9 and scrutinize who’s influencing the WHO’s efforts to demonize safer alternatives, and why.

sCOPe will be simulcast on YouTube at https://bit.ly/3aWBPxi and on Facebook from 12.00pm Hong Kong Time / 4.00am GMT on Monday, 8 November until midnight (HKT) Friday, 12 November.

Monday’s schedule (HKT):

12.00pm – CAPHRA What is Tobacco Harm Reduction – Short Film (English)

1.00pm – CAPHRA Panel Discussion – Colin Mendelsohn, MD, Expert (English)

4.00pm – ECST ENDS Cigarette Smoking Thailand Discussion (Thai)

5.00pm – COREISS Marewa Glover, PhD Presentation (English)

6.00pm – Vapers PH Philippines Discussion (Filipino)

9.00pm – MOVE/HRA MOVE (Malaysia) Discussion (Bahasa)

11.00pm – INNCO Panel with Jeff Zamora – (English)

sCOPe organiser, Nancy Loucas:

“For five days and nights, our global livestream will prove that the WHO’s position against safer nicotine products is untenable. Every adult has the right to choose safer options. It’s now time for COP9 delegates to stand up and speak out,” she says.

Samsul Kamal Ariffin, President of MOVE (Malaysian Organization of Vape Entities), and sCOPe panellist:

“As an ex-smoker, vaping has improved my health and arguably saved my life, yet outrageously, the WHO continues to pressure countries to ban it,” he says.