IN an effort to put a full stop to smoking, tobacco control authorities such as those in New Zealand are exploring the implementation of alternative tobacco products, including heated tobacco products and e-cigarettes.
This is all part of a big concept known as harm reduction, which includes policies and programmes that try to lessen the harm caused by addictive behaviours towards individuals, communities and societies.
While abstinence is the preferred objective, it is not always feasible. Helping people switch to less harmful options could point them towards a step in the right direction.
In the context of tobacco harm reduction (THR), it refers to reducing morbidity and mortality among smokers.
THR recognises that while completely avoiding tobacco-use is ideal, it is not always possible, and that users may not be able or ready to quit.
As a result, THR's main purpose is to urge smokers to switch to other nicotine product varieties which offer a risk reduction in contracting smoking-related disease, like vapes, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. For instance, heated tobacco products eliminate the process of burning tobacco to deliver nicotine to the user, avoiding the inhalation of tobacco smoke which contains tar and carbon monoxide – two of the primary causes of smoke-related disease.
Based on the information supported by PMI and their Global Head of Scientific & Medical Affairs Dr. Patrick Picavet in the writing of this article, Dr. Picavet shared the need for less harmful alternatives as the WHO estimates that the smoking population worldwide has reached one billion, a number which will remain at that level at least until 2025.
Through the harm reduction equation, he explained how product characteristics and rate of adoption can both impact population harm reduction.
He explained further that a product that has a possibility to reduce the public health risk associated with smoking needs to be acceptable to smokers in order for consumers to switch. The goal is to get as many smokers to switch to these alternatives, multiplying its harm reduction effect on the population.
NEW ZEALAND'S THR EFFORTS
In line with New Zealand's Smokefree 2025 goals, the nation's government encourages the use of vaping products as a stop-smoking device.
The evidence that vaping can help people quit smoking is mounting, and the statement suggests that vaping devices pose a lower risk than smoking cigarettes, but they are not risk-free.
However, the government also noted that users are not at risk of nicotine poisoning while using vaping goods as instructed and that vaping products release negligible levels of nicotine and other toxicants into the air with no identified health risks to bystanders.
Additionally, the statement shows that vaping products may contribute to the long-term drop in cigarette smoking among adults and youth. Recently, a survey conducted by the New Zealand Ministry of Health recorded the largest-ever decline in the number of daily smokers – from 485,000 to 387,000, a 2.5 per cent drop compared to the previous survey conducted from 2019-2020.
Smoking is a long-running problem that the World Health Organization (WHO) has attempted to tackle, with significant public health and economic consequences.
Smokers must also have access to education and correct information about smoking cessation strategies to help them quit using less harmful alternatives.
Malaysia can learn from New Zealand's successful smoking cessation efforts in developing a balanced approach to vaping as part of its efforts to combat tobacco addiction.
OVERCOMING PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS
All in all, kicking the smoking habit is not always that easy – there are a few psychological and social barriers that smokers face, making it difficult to quit.
Factors such as socioeconomic disadvantages, lack of support from family and friends and even cognitive impairment play a major role in why smokers find it hard to stop using cigarettes.
That is where tobacco harm reduction may come in handy, as it provides smokers an alternative route that eases them into a better lifestyle.
If regulations and policy direction were to support tobacco harm reduction, practices such as using heated tobacco products or heat-not-burn devices could pave the way for Malaysia to become a smoke-free nation.
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