Tobacco control activists and experts are convinced that the key to tobacco harm reduction in low- and middle-income countries is about not only to keep away from smoking, but also switching to nicotine free tobacco.
During a session entitled "Tobacco Harm Reduction: Here for good" on the sidelines of the Global Forum on Nicotine 2022 which took place from 16 to 18 June in Warsaw, discussed the advantages for smokers in using pharmaceutical nicotine as replacement therapies or unlicensed products such as electronic cigarettes.
Panelists in the talks included Angeles Muntadas, president of ANESVAP, the Spanish Association of Personal Vaporizers Users, Kindstrand-Isaksson Cecilia, Director Swedish Match specialized in manufacturing nicotine pouches, and David MacKintosh Advisor on Substance Use Policy from UK-based Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction.
The latest 2020 report on the global state of tobacco hard reduction indicate that the global smoking problem continues unabated, but there are glimmers of hope in some countries.
Reducing smoking prevalence
Currently, the World Health Organization (WHO) continues to express concern that the unabated levels of smoking will undermine attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals and ensure that the 2030 targets to reduce levels of non-communicable disease will be missed.
However, the report noted that product innovation continues to offer a wide choice to adult consumers looking to avoid smoking.
"There's hope on the horizon as new non-tobacco nicotine products are coming onto the market," said MacKintosh referring to the current situation at global level.
While significant progress has been made in reducing smoking prevalence among the population in many countries across the globe, MacKintosh told delegates that control responses around the world are mixed.
Affordable safer nicotine products
Estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that countries in the African region are experiencing an increasing rate of tobacco use. It said that the fast growth of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa and an increase in consumer purchasing power is leading to larger and more accessible markets in Africa.
Reports show that eighty percent of the world’s smokers live in low- and middle-income countries especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, and have the least access to affordable safer nicotine products.
While vaping products that contain nicotine are often marketed as smoking cessation aids for adults, Angeles Muntadas, another panelist from Spain at the Global Forum on Nicotine 2022 told delegates that any government that attempts a ban on vaping products is playing with fire.
E-cigarettes
Vaping is an act of inhaling and exhaling the vapor produced by an e-cigarette—a battery-operated device which vaporizes a flavored liquid made of water, nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerol and flavorings.
The benefits for a smoker switching to vaping, according to Muntandas include reducing the risks to their health. “This is because vaping products are not harmless to health, but rather are much less harmful than smoking," she said.
Another speaker, Kindstrand-Isaksson Cecilia from Sweden said that safer nicotine products such as e-cigarettes are many times safer than smoking.
“Many countries that have embraced or accepted these harm reduction products are now seeing the prevalence of smoking greatly decreasing,” she said.
Hundreds of healthcare experts, researchers, academics, consumers, vaping advocates, parliamentarians and even tobacco executives from several countries gathered in Warsaw, Poland were pushing for the regulation of electronic cigarettes and other low-risk non-combustible smokeless tobacco products that they say could save millions of smokers from premature death globally.
Convention on Tobacco Control
In the African region, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), 44 countries have ratified or acceded to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control but strengthening the implementation of the convention is one of the big challenges.
Whereas the UN agency stresses that prevention is the most cost-effective measure, vaping advocates say the addiction to nicotine can be as difficult to stop since there are still patients who tried medication to quit smoking but eventually failed.
But experts gathered in Warsaw, Poland agreed unanimously that access to safer nicotine products in many parts across the globe including Africa is more vital than ever.
This is because health professionals and policy makers in Africa are now finding themselves confronted by a phenomenon of rising cigarette smoking rates.
Data from WHO show that smoking rates have declined to historically low levels in high-income countries, which may be attributed to favorable regulation when it comes to safer nicotine alternatives.
But still official estimates show that Africa is still home to some highest ranked smoker countries on the planet.
“Countries need to reflect on how to embrace safer alternatives to tobacco smoking,” David MacKintosh, Advisor on Substance Use Policy from UK-based Global State of Tobacco Harm Reducti
