AVI

01/07/2026

We welcome the US FDA's decision to allow a brand of ni****ne pouches to be marketed with the health claim of relative safety versus smoking. Oral ni****ne pouches can be an effective low-risk substitute for toxic smokeless to***co used by 200 million Indians.

18/06/2026

Knowledge Action Change (K·A·C) has launched a new free online course on ***co in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Link to the course:
https://thr.academy/academy/lmics/

12/06/2026

Liquor ban failed. Gutka ban failed. V**e ban failed too. It's time govt realises the limits of prohibition and adopts harm reduction measures. **eBan

08/06/2026

The health ministry just released new data (NHFS 6) which claims to***co use has been steadily declining in India. However, another national survey (HCES) released earlier found to***co use has been massively increasing. Who to believe? If we can not decide on such basic facts, how can we even begin to address the problem? Read more...

The stark divergence between India's two national surveys reflects a fundamental flaw in how we measure stigmatised behaviour. To address our to***co crisis, we must be able to define it first.

29/05/2026

The world is moving away from ci******es, but millions of Indian to***co farmers can't. In this article by AVI director Samrat Chowdhery, he explores the agronomic trap that is stalling India's transition from combustibles to the harm reduction economy, with suggestions on how to address it.

**eDay ***coDay

The world is moving away from ci******es, but millions of Indian to***co farmers can't. In this article published by 2FIRSTS, I explore the agronomic trap that is stalling India's transition from combustibles to the harm reduction economy, with suggestions on how to address it. Nirmala Sitharaman Pi...

25/05/2026

Cochrane Reviews, the gold standard for scientific evidence, has stated again that va**ng is more effective than NRTs in smoking cessation. While not risk-free, they are an effective harm reduction choice for smokers who are unable to quit ni****ne.

🚭️ Can e-ci******es help you stop smoking? With more restrictions on smoking to***co coming into place, people are looking for proven ways to help with smoking cessation. Electronic ci******es are a widely known handheld va**ng device often used as an alternative to smoking. A Cochrane review l...

07/05/2026

India's 100 million adult smokers also deserve access to safer substitutes to deadly smoking. **eBan

Last week, Argentina's health ministry published Resolution 549/2026, ending over a decade of prohibition on electronic ci******es, heated to***co products and ni****ne pouches, and replacing it with a structured regulatory framework. The government's own reasoning is worth noting: "These products a...

10/04/2026

France’s health agency reviewed 2,500+ studies and found smokeless, non‑combustible products carry far lower harm than ci******es. With countries like the UK, Japan and South Korea adopting harm‑reduction pathways, the article suggests India may benefit from an evidence‑based review of its own approach. **eBan

India News: Explore how France's updated research on smokeless to***co products shapes India's public health strategy, supporting harm reduction and to***co control efforts.

04/04/2026

FAKE STUDY ALERT: A recent Australian review claims ni****ne v**es are “likely” to cause lung and oral cancer. But top scientific experts have pointed out the paper isn’t a systematic review – it cherry-picks animal, lab and case studies while ignoring the complete absence of long-term human epidemiological evidence.

It overinterprets tiny traces of chemicals and overheating experiments that don’t reflect real-world va**ng and crucially fails to compare va**ng’s far lower carcinogen levels to the massive risks of smoking.

Ni****ne itself is not a carcinogen, and multiple independent evidence reviews confirm no cancer risk from va**ng in humans. For smokers, switching to va**ng remains one of the most effective harm-reduction tools available – don’t let misleading headlines push you back to ci******es.

Read the experts: https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-qualitative-risk-assessment-on-the-carcinogenicity-of-e-ci******es/

02/04/2026

Bangladesh has done a course correction and is reversing its v**e ban imposed last year. If our neighbours can follow evidence, why are we still stuck with a policy that creates a huge black market and denies millions of smokers access to safer alternatives?
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India

Anti-to***co campaigners urged the government to reconsider its decision, terming it “very unfortunate."