Bloomberg Works to Ban Vaping in Latin America - A Long Term Strategy

Michael Bloomberg, the ex mayor of New York and loser of the democratic primary is a well known billionaire "public figure". What the general population isn't aware of is the massive influential power he has over policies regarding public health in Latin American countries and Lower Middle Income Countries (LMICs). The authority Bloomberg has is applied by the use of the political framework of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Solid vape markets exist in Latin American countries, but the "no-regulation" ecosystem which worked for the all the vapers there differs greatly from the environment in countries like the U.S. and almost all European countries.

Anti-tobacco organizations claim the tobacco industry "promotes vaping" which isn't an outlandish theory. If tobacco companies are promoting vaping, while at the same time working with organizations to get it banned (which they are) they would greatly benefit in the long run.

If vapers can no longer get their nicotine legally through e-cigarettes they'll have a limited amount of options: quit cold turkey, try alternatives with low success rates like nicorette gum, or go back to cigarettes. There is a new option that conveniently rolled out recently from Phillip Morris called the IQOS. This device lets you smoke cigarettes through heating the cigarette instead of combusting the cigarette. Unsurprisingly, this method is a unsatisfying and expensive alternative, but will be the closest (legal) option to vaping.

These groups referred to as NGO's or non-governmental organizations are heavily sponsored by Miachel Boomberg's company Bloomberg Philanthropies and various charities. NGO's work together with health professional groups who appear to be small, but are highly influential throughout the tobacco control sectors in governments across the world.

Foundational reasons exist for Bloomberg's philanthropy to aim its sights on LMICs. One being the fact of these countries welcoming private funding oftentimes due to the unfortunate scarcity of personnel and resources. Another major allure is most of LMCIs governments have a vertical public health administration who provide no transparency, providing them the opportunity to accept any deal they want. This means powerful lobbyists can get a policy enacted with some cash and a little convincing of a few government heads or high-ranking health officials.

To inform yourself on how Bloomberg's philanthropy wants to generate anti-vaping policies in LMIC's through the World Health Organization, read the 2020 position paper "Where Bans Are Best". This document was generated by The Union which is a private entity majorly funded by none other than the loser of the 2020 Democratic primary Miachel Bloomberg. There you'll find The Unions entire policy blueprint on how to get rid of e-cigarettes. The most important point is they suggest bans being a priority over regulating the vaping industry.