Paradigm Shift Needed In Pan America’s Approach to End Smoking
World No Tobacco Day serves as an important reminder of the harmful effects of cigarette smoking and the need for…
Royal College of Physicians, ‘Nicotine without smoke Tobacco harm reduction A report by the Tobacco Advisory Group of the Royal College of Physicians,’ 2016
Key Points:
- The report assesses the use of harm reduction in tobacco smoking.
- It found that the use of nicotine pouches in Sweden demonstrates that a substantial proportion of smokers will switch to low risk, affordable alternatives if they’re made available.
- Particularly among men, the availability of nicotine pouches as a substitute for smoking has helped to reduce smoking rates in Europe which are now by far the lowest in Europe.
- Key findings:
- It’s estimated that over 10 years (1995-2005), nicotine pouches helped to reduce smoking rates in Sweden by an additional 3.7 percentage points.
- The evidence from Sweden suggests that harm reduction products could help to reduce smoking rates by an extra 0.4% per year.
- “The evidence from Sweden suggests that the harm reduction could add a further 0.4 percentage points per year to the rate of decline in smoking prevalence and hence make a substantial contribution to public health.”
