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Policy Debates Regarding Nicotine Vaping Products in Australia: A Qualitative Analysis of Submissions to a Government Inquiry from Health and Medical Organisations

Australia has maintained a highly restrictive regulatory framework for nicotine vaping products (NVPs) and the regulatory approach differs from most other high income countries. This paper employed a thematic analysis to assess policy consultation submissions made to a government inquiry regarding u...

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Autores principales: Erku, Daniel A, Morphett, Kylie, Steadman, Kathryn J, Gartner, Coral E
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6888569/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31752132
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16224555
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author Erku, Daniel A
Morphett, Kylie
Steadman, Kathryn J
Gartner, Coral E
author_facet Erku, Daniel A
Morphett, Kylie
Steadman, Kathryn J
Gartner, Coral E
author_sort Erku, Daniel A
collection PubMed
description Australia has maintained a highly restrictive regulatory framework for nicotine vaping products (NVPs) and the regulatory approach differs from most other high income countries. This paper employed a thematic analysis to assess policy consultation submissions made to a government inquiry regarding use and marketing of NVPs. We included in the analysis submissions (n = 40) made by Australian institutions that influence or contribute to health policy-making including government agencies, health bodies and charities (n = 23), and public health academics and healthcare professionals (n = 18). Submissions from commercial entities and consumers were excluded. The majority of submissions from representatives of government agencies, health bodies and charities recommended maintaining current restrictions on NVPs. Arguments against widening access to NVPs included the demand for long-term evidence on safety and efficacy of an unusually high standard. There was widespread support for restrictions on sales, advertising and promotion, with most submissions supporting similar controls as for tobacco products. In contrast, the majority of individual submissions from healthcare professionals and public health academics advocated for widening access to NVPs for smokers and emphasized the potential benefits of smokers switching to vaping and the policy incoherence of regulating less harmful nicotine products more strictly than tobacco cigarettes. Progress in resolving the policy debate concerning NVP regulation in Australia will require policy makers, clinicians and the public health community to engage in a meaningful dialogue which gives due consideration to both intended and unintended consequences of proposed policies.
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spelling pubmed-68885692019-12-09 Policy Debates Regarding Nicotine Vaping Products in Australia: A Qualitative Analysis of Submissions to a Government Inquiry from Health and Medical Organisations Erku, Daniel A Morphett, Kylie Steadman, Kathryn J Gartner, Coral E Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Australia has maintained a highly restrictive regulatory framework for nicotine vaping products (NVPs) and the regulatory approach differs from most other high income countries. This paper employed a thematic analysis to assess policy consultation submissions made to a government inquiry regarding use and marketing of NVPs. We included in the analysis submissions (n = 40) made by Australian institutions that influence or contribute to health policy-making including government agencies, health bodies and charities (n = 23), and public health academics and healthcare professionals (n = 18). Submissions from commercial entities and consumers were excluded. The majority of submissions from representatives of government agencies, health bodies and charities recommended maintaining current restrictions on NVPs. Arguments against widening access to NVPs included the demand for long-term evidence on safety and efficacy of an unusually high standard. There was widespread support for restrictions on sales, advertising and promotion, with most submissions supporting similar controls as for tobacco products. In contrast, the majority of individual submissions from healthcare professionals and public health academics advocated for widening access to NVPs for smokers and emphasized the potential benefits of smokers switching to vaping and the policy incoherence of regulating less harmful nicotine products more strictly than tobacco cigarettes. Progress in resolving the policy debate concerning NVP regulation in Australia will require policy makers, clinicians and the public health community to engage in a meaningful dialogue which gives due consideration to both intended and unintended consequences of proposed policies. MDPI 2019-11-18 2019-11 /pmc/articles/PMC6888569/ /pubmed/31752132 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16224555 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Erku, Daniel A
Morphett, Kylie
Steadman, Kathryn J
Gartner, Coral E
Policy Debates Regarding Nicotine Vaping Products in Australia: A Qualitative Analysis of Submissions to a Government Inquiry from Health and Medical Organisations
title Policy Debates Regarding Nicotine Vaping Products in Australia: A Qualitative Analysis of Submissions to a Government Inquiry from Health and Medical Organisations
title_full Policy Debates Regarding Nicotine Vaping Products in Australia: A Qualitative Analysis of Submissions to a Government Inquiry from Health and Medical Organisations
title_fullStr Policy Debates Regarding Nicotine Vaping Products in Australia: A Qualitative Analysis of Submissions to a Government Inquiry from Health and Medical Organisations
title_full_unstemmed Policy Debates Regarding Nicotine Vaping Products in Australia: A Qualitative Analysis of Submissions to a Government Inquiry from Health and Medical Organisations
title_short Policy Debates Regarding Nicotine Vaping Products in Australia: A Qualitative Analysis of Submissions to a Government Inquiry from Health and Medical Organisations
title_sort policy debates regarding nicotine vaping products in australia: a qualitative analysis of submissions to a government inquiry from health and medical organisations
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6888569/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31752132
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16224555
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