Reducing tobacco harm: a global health platform

Tobacco harm reduction involves encouraging users to switch to nicotine products that have the potential to be far less harmful than combustible tobacco products. The commercial, clinical, public health and legislative landscape has been turned upside down by the advent of nicotine products with the potential for reduced risk. The adoption of a harm reduction strategy complements existing smoking control measures.

A central tenet of the tobacco harm reduction approach is that the best course of action is for people to stop smoking altogether or never start, but it is clear that many will continue to use combustible tobacco products even though are aware of their risks. A harm reduction approach encourages the full transition to alternatives with the potential for reduced risk, such as e-cigarettes, heatable tobacco products and oral nicotine lozenges, which are less harmful than conventional combustible tobacco products widely available throughout world.

According to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, everyone has the right to the achievement of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The Committee further developed this norm of economic, social and cultural rights by ruling that the right of people to exercise control over their health and their bodies presupposes the availability of a variety of mechanisms, goods, services and conditions so as to achieve the best possible state of health. For tobacco users, this means having the freedom to choose potentially less risky alternatives to combustible cigarettes or other risky oral tobacco products.

Given the fact that there are 1 billion smokers in the world, and in order to find a solution to this problem, a number of countries have included the harm reduction approach in their national plans, and it is already showing impressive results. Japan managed to reduce the number of smokers in the country by 42% in just five years by including regulation of potentially less harmful alternatives in its national harm reduction plan.

Like Japan, the United Kingdom also reported a 6.9% reduction in the number of tobacco users thanks to the country’s progress. Other countries, such as New Zealand, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, the Philippines, China, Norway and Iceland, have also seen significant declines in cigarette sales, all of which have in common that adult smokers have access to potentially more -less harmful alternatives.

A tobacco harm reduction approach is likely to bring significant public health benefits because it provides a practical and logical solution to a problem the world is trying to deal with.

Source: Tobacco harm reduction: a global health agenda – Daily Times