On 28 April 2023, a panel of experts gathered in Johannesburg for the Tobacco Harm Reduction Summit Africa 2023 to discuss the benefits of THR in preventing tobacco-related diseases and premature deaths.
The panel reviewed best practices from countries like Japan, the United Kingdom, and Sweden’s ground-breaking success in becoming a smoke-free country by embracing lower-risk alternatives, such as snus. Click here to watch a video about Sweden’s success.
The aim was to examine how these successful approaches to THR can stimulate international research, create multistakeholder dialogue, and inform South African tobacco control.
Key takeaways:
- Public policy must recognise that nicotine’s source/delivery method is the issue, not nicotine itself. If ENDS are banned, people will switch back to cigarettes to ingest nicotine.
- Any substance is dangerous in high quantities (sugar, even water) and, if abused, can cause death. There is an irrational level of focus on nicotine; however, if used in the appropriate quantities, it is no riskier than any other substance.
- Smoke-free alternatives to cigarettes must be accessible, acceptable, and affordable for consumers.
- Medical training should educate students about nicotine, tobacco, alternative products, and the relative risks.
- South Africa must learn from the Swedish example, where Sweden has achieved the lowest global smoking prevalence figure of 5.6% by offering alternative products to smokers.
