Vaping Can Cause Lung Injury

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Professor Tjandra Yoga Aditama, chairman of the Honorary Council of the Indonesian Pulmonologists Association (PDPI), has warned that e-cigarette use, or vaping, can have harmful health effects, including lung injury.

“The WHO says that vaping itself has adverse effects on health because it contains nicotine (even products said to contain no nicotine have been found to contain it), toxic substances and flavourings,” Tjandra said in a written statement received in Jakarta on Sunday.

He said one harmful effect of vaping on lung health is “e-cigarette or vaping-associated lung injury” (EVALI), as described by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“If drugs such as etomidate are added to vape products, the health risks will of course be even greater,” said Tjandra, an honorary professor at Griffith University.

Tjandra said a publication by the WHO’s Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) recorded that 12 countries had banned the sale of e-cigarettes. Around 35 countries worldwide have banned electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), he added.

“We strongly support the National Narcotics Agency’s (BNN) position banning the use of vapes (e-cigarettes), because they could become a means of narcotics abuse,” he said.

The BNN had previously said that the distribution of narcotics through vape products posed a real threat to young people and needed to be stopped immediately.

“For this reason, the BNN is pushing for regulations banning e-cigarettes to be issued more quickly, as a concrete measure to protect the public,” BNN Chief Secretary Inspector-General of Police Asep Saepudin said in Bandar Lampung on Monday.