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As part of the Trump Administration’s ongoing work to tackle the epidemic of e-cigarette use by youth, the United States Food and Drug Administration intends to finalise a compliance policy in the coming weeks that would prioritise the agency’s enforcement of the pre-market authorisation requirements for non-tobacco-flavoured e-cigarettes, including mint and menthol, clearing the market of unauthorised, non-tobacco-flavoured e-cigarette products, a note from the agency said. The announcement comes as preliminary numbers from the National Youth Tobacco Survey show a continued rise in the disturbing rates of youth e-cigarette use. In particular, the preliminary data show that more than a quarter of high school students were current (past 30 days) e-cigarette users in 2019 and the overwhelming majority cited the use of popular fruit and menthol or mint flavours.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recognised the “need for alternatives to animals in experimentation” in a new publication authored by former ICMR director general, Dr Sowmya Swaminathan, and other senior leadership, with expert input from Humane Society International/India. The paper, published this month in the Indian Journal of Medical Research , calls for the development and use of a “21st century toolbox” of human-relevant, non-animal techniques to make India self-reliant in the development of non-animal technologies, an HSI note said.

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