E-cigarettes reduce the burden on hospitals, say doctors
Italy is a closed country. Only grocery stores, tobacconists and pharmacies are allowed to stay open during the ongoing corona epidemic. And now also vejpshoppes. After a great effort from a worried doctor.
The Italian doctor Riccardo Polosa saved vejpshops from the near-total ban on opening during the worst COVID-19 epidemic in the world.
"We have over a million vejp users in Italy. The risk of them returning to smoking is high if the vejp shops are closed, but not the tobacco shops." says Riccardo Polosa to American magazine Filter.
E-cigarettes help COPD patients
Riccardo Polosa is one of the world's leading researchers on e-cigarettes and smoking-related harm reduction. His research includes patients with severe smoke-related lung damage, in particular COPD, asthma and high blood pressure. For several years, he has published clinical studies on the impact of vejpning on former smokers with chronic diseases. According to him, e-cigarettes are an effective way to keep seriously ill patients away from tobacco, saving their lives.
"Many vejp users have chronic diseases caused by smoking. Those who use only electronic cigarettes have improved symptoms. But if they went back to smoking, we would see a significant increase in people with respiratory diseases. This would significantly increase the pressure on hospitals"
Taking vejpning seriously
Riccardo Polosa approached authorities and politicians through the country's e-cigarette trade association. The aim was to persuade them to allow vejpshops to stay open, alongside traditional tobacco shops during the COVID-19 epidemic. In other countries, most recently in France, similar attempts have been fruitless. But not in Italy.
"I don't know if it was because of the upcoming taxation of e-cigarettes, or something else. But they listened. It shows that they actually take e-cigarettes and their harm reduction potential seriously." Riccardo Polosa told Filter.
According to a new study is a major del of those worst affected by the coronavirus and COVID-19 in Italy are smokers. Today, there are 16 million smokers in the country.
