The World Health Organisation¹ has called for the regulation of electronic cigarettes as both tobacco and medical products, dealing² a blow to the industry that had hoped the devices would escape the strict curbs³ placed on smoking.

世界卫生组织(WHO)呼吁把电子烟同时当作烟草和医疗产品来管理，此举对电子烟行业构成沉重打击。该行业曾希望电子烟能躲过对吸烟施加的严格限制。

As first reported by the Financial Times in April, the UN’s health agency said in a report released yesterday that restrictions⁴ should be placed on the marketing⁵ of the devices, their sale to minors⁶ and indoor use.

正如英国《金融时报》在今年4月率先报道的那样，联合国(UN)下属的这一卫生机构昨日发布报告称，应对电子烟的营销、面向未成年人的销售以及室内使用施加限制。

It said claims about the health benefits of their use should be prohibited until “manufacturers provide convincing supporting scientific evidence and obtain regulatory approval”.

报告称，应禁止有关吸电子烟对健康有益的说法，直到“生产商拿出令人信服的支持性科学证据、并获得监管层的批准”。

“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.

“很可能有必要采用一种双管齐下的监管策略，一面依据《世界卫生组织烟草控制框架公约》(Framework Convention on Tobacco Control)的规定把电子烟当作烟草产品来管理，另一面把它当作医疗产品来管理，”该报告称。

Annual global sales of ecigarettes and other electronic nicotine⁷ delivery systems have risen in value from $20m in 2008 to $3bn last year, according to Canaccord Genuity, the financial services firm.

金融服务公司加通贝祥(Canaccord Genuity)的数据显示，电子烟等电子尼古丁传送系统的全球年销售额已从2008年的2000万美元升至去年的30亿美元。

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”.

尽管世卫组织承认，吸电子烟（包括吸一手烟和二手烟）的全面后果尚不清楚，但上述报告称，现有证据表明，电子烟的使用“对青少年和胎儿构成严重威胁”。

On their health benefits, the reports said: “Unsubstantiated or overstated claims of safety and cessation are frequent market themes aimed at smokers⁸.”

至于电子烟对健康的益处，报告称：“有关电子烟安全和有助戒烟的、未经证实或夸大其辞的说法，是针对烟民经常使用的市场宣传主题。”

It cited one study that said the devices were marketed in 7,764 unique flavours, suggesting these will “serve as a gateway⁹ to nicotine addiction¹⁰ and, ultimately, smoking, particularly for young people”.

报告援引的一份研究结果称，市面上的电子烟有7764种独特口味，暗示它们将“导致顾客对尼古丁上瘾，并最终导致吸烟，对年轻人来说尤其如此”。

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 previously¹¹.

美国疾病控制与预防中心(US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)周一表示，2013年，美国有逾26.3万从未吸过传统香烟的中学生吸了电子烟，这个数字大大高于两年前的7.9万。

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”.

转型社会健康问题欧洲研究中心(European Centre on Health of Societies in Transition)教授马丁•麦基(Martin McKee)对世卫组织的建议表示欢迎。这些是“合理的措施，因为人们显然有理由担心，当前销售的产品对使用者或被暴露于它们所散发的气体中的人来说可能不够安全”。

“[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.

“（报告）建议进行谨慎监管，除非且直到它们能被证明是安全有效的，（报告）还指出目前还没有证明这一点，”他补充道。

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 epidemic¹² 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.

但公共卫生咨询机构“知识-行动-改变”(Knowledge-Action-Change)负责人格里•斯廷森(Gerry Stimson)指责世卫组织“夸大了电子烟的风险，同时淡化了这些非燃烧、低风险尼古丁产品在遏止烟草相关疾病流行方面的巨大潜力”。他说：“世卫组织的建议书似乎挑选了对自己有利的科学证据，毫无必要地散布恐慌，并就尼古丁的影响使用了误导性的措辞。”该报告将于今年10月呈交给《世界卫生组织烟草控制框架公约》签约国。