Author: Joseph Magero
This year’s World Health Day provides an opportunity to look back at successful public health strategies that have improved quality of life in the last seven decades.
With this year’s theme being ‘Health for all’, it’s important to remember that everyone, without exception, has the right to life-saving interventions and this responsibility lies with the government authorities.
In the context of achieving health for all, especially in low and middle countries, harm reduction can play a crucial role in several ways. In the past, harm reduction measures have helped mitigate the spread of infectious diseases in Africa, particularly HIV/AIDS.
In the 1980s and 1990s, many African countries experienced a significant increase in HIV/AIDS cases, and the epidemic was largely driven by sexual transmission. To address this, harm reduction strategies were implemented, including the promotion of condom use.
Today, condom use has been one of the most effective ways to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV, and making condoms widely available and promoting their use has been an important strategy in preventing new infections.
In the same context, many countries have been successfully applying harm-reduction strategies to curb smoking rates. Cigarette smoking continues to be a major health challenge in the 21st century. Despite public health efforts to reduce smoking rates, smoking remains the leading cause of preventable deaths worldwide, accounting for an estimated 8 million deaths each year.
Significant disparities in health outcomes around the world are driven by unequal access to essential health products. Smoking rates have declined to historically low levels in high-income countries, such as the U.K. and Sweden, which may be attributed to favorable regulations when it comes to safer nicotine alternatives.
The health impact of Sweden’s plummeting cigarette consumption is remarkable! As well as having the lowest percentage of tobacco-related diseases in the European Union, Sweden has a 41% lower incidence of cancer and a 38% lower cancer death rate than other EU countries. These are the sort of public health outcomes that every country should be striving for.
Overall, harm reduction has the potential to play a vital role in achieving health for all by reducing the negative consequences associated with risky behaviors and promoting access to essential health services and support.
Governments need to show commitment, support, and empathy toward people who smoke cigarettes. This will require investing in new local research and data, including commissioning further studies on the science behind tobacco harm reduction.
