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* Concern that UN agency sees e-cigarettes as "threat"
* Classification as tobacco products would curb use
* Scientists say e-cigarettes "part of solution" to smoking
* Critics say safety uncertain, risk of fuelling addiction (Adds comment from British Lung Foundation, declaration fromscientists on competing interest)
By Ben Hirschler
LONDON, May 29 (Reuters) - A group of 53 leading scientistshas warned the World Health Organisation not to classifye-cigarettes as tobacco products, arguing that doing so wouldjeopardise a major opportunity to slash disease and deathscaused by smoking.
The UN agency, which is currently assessing its position onthe matter, has previously indicated it would favour applyingsimilar restrictions to all nicotine-containing products.
In an open letter to WHO Director General Margaret Chan, thescientists from Europe, North America, Asia and Australia arguedthat low-risk products like e-cigarettes were "part of thesolution" in the fight against smoking, not part of the problem.
"These products could be among the most significant healthinnovations of the 21st century - perhaps saving hundreds ofmillions of lives. The urge to control and suppress them astobacco products should be resisted," the experts wrote.
Leaked documents from a meeting last November suggest theWHO views e-cigarettes as a "threat" and wants them classifiedthe same way as regular tobacco products under the FrameworkConvention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). (http://link.reuters.com/muq69v)
That has set alarm bells ringing among a number of medicalexperts - and in the booming e-cigarette industry. A total of178 countries are parties to the international convention andare obliged to implement its measures, with the United Statesthe one notable non-signatory.
A move to classify e-cigarettes alongside regular cigaretteswould push countries into taking similar tough measures torestrict demand, including raising taxes, banning advertising,introducing health warnings and curbing use in public places.
Uptake of electronic cigarettes, which use battery-poweredcartridges to produce a nicotine-laced inhalable vapour, hasrocketed in the last two years and analysts estimate theindustry had worldwide sales of some $3 billion in 2013.
But the devices are controversial. Because they are so newthere is a lack of long-term scientific evidence to supporttheir safety and some fear they could be "gateway" products tonicotine addiction and tobacco smoking - though the scientistssaid they were "unaware of any credible evidence that supportsthis conjecture".
In response to the scientists' letter, Penny Woods, chiefexecutive of the British Lung Foundation, said: "The overallimpact of e-cigarette use on public health is currently unclear.While they could prove to be an important tool to help peoplestop smoking, the unregulated status of e-cigarettes isproblematic."
BIG TOBACCO BACKS SCIENTISTS
For tobacco companies seeking to offset the decline intraditional smoking, investment in e-cigarettes was an obviouschoice and all the major players now have a presence, promptingBig Tobacco to line up behind scientists on this occasion.
Kingsley Wheaton, director of corporate and regulatoryaffairs at British American Tobacco, said classifyinge-cigarettes as tobacco products would mean smokers find itharder to access a less risky alternative.
In a declaration of interests, none of the scientists saidthey had received funding from tobacco companies. However, somehave carried out research on e-cigarettes or acted asconsultants for drug companies making other smoking cessationproducts, including GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer.
The Geneva-based WHO said its position on e-cigarettes wasstill in flux ahead of a key meeting on the FCTC scheduled forOctober 13-18 in Moscow, where proposed regulations will bediscussed.
"At this point the only thing I can say is that we areelaborating these regulations and they will soon be available toyou," Armando Peruga, programme manager for the WHO's TobaccoFree Initiative told reporters this week.
Gerry Stimson, emeritus professor at Imperial College Londonand one of the organisers of the letter to Chan, told Reutersthat the WHO's position was "bizarre" and its stance one-cigarettes was harsher than that of regulators in Europe andthe United States.
"We want to make sufficient noise now before things get tooset in stone," he said. (Additional reporting by Tom Miles in Geneva; Editing by DavidEvans and Pravin Char)
