Sept. 2007: The WHO report on hookah smoking is MORE THAN NEVER erroneous !


>>> Last Comments (Aug-Sept 2007) by WHO TobReg Officials (Erik DYBING, Jack HENNINGFIELD) and the authors of the WHO Erroneous report (Thomas EISSENBERG, Alan SHIHADEH, Wasim MAZIAK and Kenneth WARD)


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>>> Earlier Comments (Spring 2007) by the authors of the WHO Erroneous Report (Thomas EISSENBERG, Alan SHIHADEH, Wasim MAZIAK and Kenneth WARD)


The spontaneous comments of the 4 main official world experts in charge of the first (2005) report (Thomas EISSENBERG, Alan SHIHADEH, Kenneth WARD, Wasim MAZIAK) were, after months, and in a timorous tone: “biased and inaccurate”. However, instead of telling you where the numerous critiques are wrong, their sole explanation was, apart from a defamation campaign (see further down), as follows:

How come… “It is possible, I suppose, that these otherwise respected scientists have published waterpipe™ research that is flawed in a way that has eluded four sets of peer reviewers, three editors, and multiple readers of three different journals, only to be detected by a single very observant scientist.” (Globalink, 15 March 2007)

The “evidence” that all Dr Kamal T.C. ’s (rather embarrassing) critiques would be “wrong” is (Hold your breath!) that… its author has been advocating for harm reduction in the field of hookah smoking and was personally and wilfully involved, alas for a short period, in (Hold your breath again !) the No-Carbon Monoxide World Harm Reduction Hookah Project ; in fact, the most serious response to the growing Public Health concerns, particularly regarding the “infamous” hookah lounges.

NOTE (about this product, atually called SHISH'ART in the market). We have to say a few words about it because it is behind all the recent attacks against our friend . So let's remind everybody that he worked with enthusiam on the prototype (to try to earn a living as he couldn't find any job in those sectors controlled by the most extremists of the so-called "Anti"-tobacco activists). He left the project before the product was commercialised. So, let's make it clear for everybody: he signed away his rights (official relinquishment) related to the patent on June 15, 2005.

Defamatory attacks by the above quartet of official experts chiefly addressed two famous critiques. Both pitifully failed. The first was carried on through a Letter to a medical journal. Kamal's reply was clear enough to make the Editor of the latter not change his mind and understand what was really at stake.

The other offensive was about the most popular page of the TC (Tobacco Control) journal: “Serious Errors in this Study”. However, the Editor of this last journal (where many friends of the above team work), posted an online Letter entitled Failure to declare competing interest” , once again in relation with the No-Carbon Monoxide World Harm Reduction Hookah Project

Kamal Chaouachi’s right of reply was immediately rejected and only excerpts of his detailed letter were selected for a quite personal interpretation by the Editor of the Tobacco Control journal. KC repeated and insisted that he had NO competing interest for any of all his publications and that it did not earned a penny for the famous patent (the object of the harsh libellous attacks). He said his experience ended on 15 June 2005 and that he has nothing to do with the correspondence delays between the patent agencies in France and the USA (which seems to be of great importance for these people…). Finally, he added that he was ready, if necessary, to give the full particulars of the State Attorney with whom the files are kept.

Quote-worthy as a censored testimony for all tobacco control researchers sincerely concerned by the world public health : “I have tackled the most pressing and important public health research issue of the century regarding the world hookah (shisha, narghile) epidemic. In the same time, the most famous teams (Eissenberg, Shihadeh, Maziak, Ward) have been, on purpose, orienting research in other directions ("nicotine-addiction", for instance), not to mention their production of an erroneous "Health Advisory Note" report for WHO, the first ever prepared by this UN agency. Who is to be considered a "criminal" as far as the world public health is concerned ?”

(Kamal Chaouachi to Editor Tobacco Control, 5 April 2007)

Recapitulation HERE