Tobacco harm reduction policy and alternative products are the best choice for reducing smoking harms
14-05-2023 05:02 PM
Ammon – About a decade ago, consumers’ perceptions and vision were not entirely clear about the goal of developing and working to promote the spread of tobacco products and alternative nicotine delivery systems among adult smokers.
Today, the positive results achieved by adopting alternative products indicate the seriousness of the goal of achieving a smoke-free world, which is evident in the decrease in the number of smokers and the reduction in the size and consequences of health risks associated with smoking in countries that made these products available with policies, procedures and regulations, following the adoption of an innovative health policy. , “harm reduction policy”, with regard to its tobacco control, abandoning the traditional policy that has not achieved the hope of its enactment so far, despite its calls for immediate cessation.
And with the clarity of the large fundamental differences between alternative and traditional products, the most important of which revolves around the exclusion of the process of burning tobacco and the resulting harmful or potentially harmful chemicals, estimated at about 6 thousand substances associated with many diseases that affect traditional smokers, along with clarity of vision. From alternative products by providing efficient and scientifically proven tools with lower levels of chemicals, to open a new door to cessation and reduce direct and indirect human and economic losses, and an option for those who do not wish to stop smoking, the first is to expand the scope of application of the innovative policy, following the example of what many experiments have achieved.
This was the successful experiences of the innovative policy, such as the Japanese experience, which resulted in an annual decline of 9.5%, compared to only 1.8% before the adoption of the harm reduction policy, specifically during the years between 2011 and 2015, and the British experience, in which the number of consumers of combustible tobacco products decreased by 6%. Of the total population in Britain, and the New Zealand experience, in which the percentage of smokers decreased to 8% in 2022, after it was 16.6% of the population in 2015, has constituted a greater motive for a greater number of public health and policy experts to demand the legislation of laws Less stringent international standards for alternative products are appropriate for the lower levels of risk posed by them.
And the importance of adopting an innovative policy and urging the switch to alternative products, even if it is not completely free of risks, and that the best option is always not to engage in the practice of smoking, in light of expectations that the number of smokers will remain at the limits of one billion or more by the year 2025 due to the failure of the current traditional policy to reduce it by a record difference. .
Ammon – About a decade ago, consumers’ perceptions and vision were not entirely clear about the goal of developing and working to promote the spread of tobacco products and alternative nicotine delivery systems among adult smokers.
Today, the positive results achieved by adopting alternative products indicate the seriousness of the goal of achieving a smoke-free world, which is evident in the decrease in the number of smokers and the reduction in the size and consequences of health risks associated with smoking in countries that made these products available with policies, procedures and regulations, following the adoption of an innovative health policy. , “harm reduction policy”, with regard to its tobacco control, abandoning the traditional policy that has not achieved the hope of its enactment so far, despite its calls for immediate cessation.
And with the clarity of the large fundamental differences between alternative and traditional products, the most important of which revolves around the exclusion of the process of burning tobacco and the resulting harmful or potentially harmful chemicals, estimated at about 6 thousand substances associated with many diseases that affect traditional smokers, along with clarity of vision. From alternative products by providing efficient and scientifically proven tools with lower levels of chemicals, to open a new door to cessation and reduce direct and indirect human and economic losses, and an option for those who do not wish to stop smoking, the first is to expand the scope of application of the innovative policy, following the example of what many experiments have achieved.
This was the successful experiences of the innovative policy, such as the Japanese experience, which resulted in an annual decline of 9.5%, compared to only 1.8% before the adoption of the harm reduction policy, specifically during the years between 2011 and 2015, and the British experience, in which the number of consumers of combustible tobacco products decreased by 6%. Of the total population in Britain, and the New Zealand experience, in which the percentage of smokers decreased to 8% in 2022, after it was 16.6% of the population in 2015, has constituted a greater motive for a greater number of public health and policy experts to demand the legislation of laws Less stringent international standards for alternative products are appropriate for the lower levels of risk posed by them.
And the importance of adopting an innovative policy and urging the switch to alternative products, even if it is not completely free of risks, and that the best option is always not to engage in the practice of smoking, in light of expectations that the number of smokers will remain at the limits of one billion or more by the year 2025 due to the failure of the current traditional policy to reduce it by a record difference. .
