Experts Call For Harm Reduction
Tobacco control experts are calling for a tobacco harm reduction approach in order to save lives, according to the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Advocates
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by Dave Cross
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An inaugural seminar on Thursday 27th of April, hosted by Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association (ATHRA), CAPHRA, Harm Reduction Alliance of the Philippines, Malaysian Society for Harm Reduction (MSHR) and Pakistan Alliance for Nicotine and Tobacco Harm Reduction (PAHTHR), called for an urgent response by Asia-Pacific countries to “quit like Sweden”, and discussed the latest available scientific evidence that demonstrates both the reduced risk nature of alternative nicotine products and their efficacy as a cessation tool.
“The Cochrane Review, noted as the gold standard in evidence review, has concluded that vaping products is more effective than traditional nicotine replacement therapies. Governments such as the United Kingdom have also concluded vaping poses significantly less risk than smoking and it is critical government action is taken in Asia-Pacific countries to encourage smokers to switch,” concluded Nancy Loucas, Chair of CAPHRA.
“Harm reduction is not a novel concept; we apply it to helmets and seatbelts to reduce the risk of activities people want to do. Tobacco harm reduction applies the same concept, for people who consume nicotine.
“It is well established that people smoke for the nicotine but die from the tar and related toxic chemicals caused by inhaling cigarette smoke.[1] Nicotine, while addictive, does not cause tobacco smoking-related diseases such as lung cancer, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).[2]
“By learning from other countries that have proven the real-world benefits of tobacco harm reduction, Governments can improve their understanding and awareness of best practice, and we can take steps to drastically lower the burden of smoking related illness in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and African regions.
“Countries such as New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and many parts of Europe, notably Sweden, have demonstrated how to go about regulating these new less risky products such as vaping (e-cigarettes which warm a liquid into an aerosol), heated tobacco and oral nicotine pouches in a sensible way, and are now reaping the rewards of record-low smoking rates.
“Wide availability of smokeless nicotine alternatives has seen New Zealand’s smoking rate decline from 15% in 2015 to 8% by the end of 2022[3]. Sweden has declined to just 5.6% of people over the age of 16[4], putting it on the brink of “smokefree” status, defined by the Swedish government as when less than 5% of the population smoke.[5] Sweden’s incidence of cancer is 41% lower than the rest of its European counterparts, corresponding to a 38% lower level of total cancer deaths.[6]
“Japan meanwhile is on track to ‘accidentally’ go smokefree with a more than 40% decline in combustible cigarette sales attributed to its wide availability of tobacco heating products [7]. “The United Kingdom and New Zealand Governments actively promote alternative nicotine products to smokers through quit smoking campaigns. We urge Asia-Pacific countries to look to do the same.
“These policy measures coupled with differentiated regulation to cigarettes, would have the potential to save countless millions of lives in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and African regions.”
References:
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Advocates – https://caphraorg.net
[1] https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040617-013849
[2] https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMra0809890
[3] New Zealand records lowest smoking rate ever | Beehive.govt.nz
[5] https://www.regeringen.se/rattsliga-dokument/skrivelse/2016/02/skr.20151686/
[7] Why Japan's Huge Drop in Smoking Is a Story Prohibitionists Ignore (filtermag.org)
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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