A joint document from twelve organisations such as the Portuguese Cardiology Society, the Portuguese Association of General and Family Medicine and the Portuguese Pulmonology Society, among others, said they were “extremely concerned” with the appearance of the new tobacco products and reminded people that these “produce aerosols with nicotine and other chemical compounds”, while warning that the health risks are serious.


“We should not allow the debate about the new tobacco products to distract us from the main objective – promoting regulatory measures we know are effective in cutting smoking and supporting those people who want to quit”, they wrote.


The organisations wrote in the document that they do not recommend the use of heat-not-burn tobacco products and warn of their risks, adding that “the best way to safeguard human health is to stop people from starting to consume tobacco in any form and provide the help needed to stop smoking”.


“The heat-not-burn products contain nicotine, a highly addictive substance that exists in tobacco, causing dependence in its users, and other added compounds that do not exist in tobacco, furthermore, they are frequently aromatised”, they warned.


The 12 scientific organisations and healthcare organisations said these products are also “a temptation for non-smokers and minors to start smoking” adding that experimentation and the use of electronic cigarettes among youths and adolescents “is growing exponentially”.