Smoke-Free Sweden travelled the world to interact with international experts in the lead-up to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’s Tenth Conference of Parties (FCTC COP10), which will bring together representatives from every signatory in Panama this November. The research aimed to examine how adult smokers in Sweden had prevented millions of deaths.
We travelled to Johannesburg, Stockholm, Dhaka, Warsaw, and São Paulo. The message was clear: Sweden’s success in going smoke-free has been largely attributed to its ability to make smokeless alternatives to cigarettes widely available, socially acceptable, and reasonably priced.
We spoke with specialists all across the world, and they all agreed that Sweden approached things in a unique way. We were curious as to how precisely Sweden’s strategy for substituting nicotine products contributed to its success. And why can’t the prevalence of smoking be decreased by tobacco control and education initiatives alone? The Smoke-Free Sweden movement drew some obvious conclusions.
