世衛組織建議對電子煙雙重監管大綱

The World Health Organisation has called for the regulation of electronic cigarettes as both tobacco and medical products, dealing a blow to the industry that had hoped the devices would escape the strict curbs placed on sMoking.
世界衛生組織(WHO)呼籲把電子煙同時當作菸草和醫療產品來管理，此舉對電子煙行業構成沉重打擊。該行業曾希望電子煙能躲過對吸菸施加的嚴格限制。

As first reported by the Financial Times in April, the UN’s health agency said in a report released yesterday that restrictions should be placed on the marketing of the devices, their sale to minors and indoor use.
正如英國《金融時報》在今年4月率先報道的那樣，聯合國(UN)下屬的這一衛生機構昨日發佈報告稱，應對電子煙的營銷、面向未成年人的銷售以及室內使用施加限制。

It said claims about the health benefits of their use should be prohibited until “manufacturers provide convincing supporting scientific evidence and obtain regulatory approval”.
報告稱，應禁止有關吸電子煙對健康有益的說法，直到“生產商拿出令人信服的支持性科學證據、並獲得監管層的批准”。

“It is likely a two-pronged regulatory strategy – regulating [ecigarettes] as both a tobacco product, in accordance with the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), and as a medical product – would be necessary,” the report said.
“很可能有必要採用一種雙管齊下的監管策略，一面依據《世界衛生組織菸草控制框架公約》(Framework Convention on Tobacco Control)的規定把電子煙當作菸草產品來管理，另一面把它當作醫療產品來管理，”該報告稱。

Annual global sales of ecigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems have risen in value from $20m in 2008 to $3bn last year, according to Canaccord Genuity, the financial services firm.
金融服務公司加通貝祥(Canaccord Genuity)的數據顯示，電子煙等電子尼古丁傳送系統的全球年銷售額已從2008年的2000萬美元升至去年的30億美元。

While the WHO admitted the full effects of smoking ecigarettes, first-hand and passively, were not known, it said the existing evidence showed that their use “poses serious threats to adolescents and foetuses”.
儘管世衛組織承認，吸電子煙（包括吸一手煙和二手菸）的全面後果尚不清楚，但上述報告稱，現有證據表明，電子煙的使用“對青少年和胎兒構成嚴重威脅”。

On their health benefits, the reports said: “Unsubstantiated or overstated claims of safety and cessation are frequent market themes aimed at smokers.”
至於電子煙對健康的益處，報告稱：“有關電子煙安全和有助戒菸的、未經證實或誇大其辭的說法，是針對菸民經常使用的市場宣傳主題。”

It cited one study that said the devices were marketed in 7,764 unique flavours, suggesting these will “serve as a gateway to nicotine addiction and, ultimately, smoking, particularly for young people”.
報告援引的一份研究結果稱，市面上的電子煙有7764種獨特口味，暗示它們將“導致顧客對尼古丁上癮，並最終導致吸菸，對年輕人來說尤其如此”。

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday that more than 263,000 US middle and high school students who had never smoked traditional products smoked ecigarettes in 2013, up from 79,000 two years previously.
美國疾病控制與預防中心(US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)週一表示，2013年，美國有逾26.3萬從未吸過傳統香菸的中學生吸了電子煙，這個數字大大高於兩年前的7.9萬。

Professor Martin McKee of the European Centre on Health of Societies in Transition welcomed the recommendations. They were “sensible measures given the clear cause for concern that products currently being sold may not be safe either for those using them or those exposed to the vapour given off”.
轉型社會健康問題歐洲研究中心(European Centre on Health of Societies in Transition)教授馬丁•麥基(Martin McKee)對世衛組織的建議表示歡迎。這些是“合理的措施，因爲人們顯然有理由擔心，當前銷售的產品對使用者或被暴露於它們所散發的氣體中的人來說可能不夠安全”。

“[The report] recommends careful regulation unless and until they can be shown to be safe and effective and notes that this is not yet the case,” he added.
“（報告）建議進行謹慎監管，除非且直到它們能被證明是安全有效的，（報告）還指出目前還沒有證明這一點，”他補充道。

But Professor Gerry Stimson, director of Knowledge-Action-Change, a public health consultancy, accused the WHO of “exaggerating the risks of ecigarettes while downplaying the huge potential of these non-combustible, low-risk nicotine products to end the epidemic of tobacco-related disease”. He said: “The WHO position paper appears to have cherry-picked the science, used unnecessary scaremongering and misleading language about the effects of nicotine.” The report is to be presented to the FCTC signatories in October.
但公共衛生諮詢機構“知識-行動-改變”(Knowledge-Action-Change)負責人格里•斯廷森(Gerry Stimson)指責世衛組織“誇大了電子煙的風險，同時淡化了這些非燃燒、低風險尼古丁產品在遏止菸草相關疾病流行方面的巨大潛力”。他說：“世衛組織的建議書似乎挑選了對自己有利的科學證據，毫無必要地散佈恐慌，並就尼古丁的影響使用了誤導性的措辭。”該報告將於今年10月呈交給《世界衛生組織菸草控制框架公約》簽約國。