Harm reduction

The Guardian reports that a record 4.3 million people are vape users in the UK. The figures come from new research by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). The cousin to the nicotine pouch is more popular than ever, and most vape users are former smokers. That’s positive, but there are concerns about young people’s use of the products.

The Czech Republic took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on July 1, 2022. While the Czechs will need to carry the EU through an energy crisis, a war in Ukraine, and galloping inflation, they will also have a six-month window to shape public health policies.

The National Coalition Party of Finland (Finnish: Kansallinen Kokoomus, Swedish: Samlingspartiet), the liberal-conservative party in Finland, recently decided at its party congress to work towards making the sale of snus legal in Finland.

As Pouch Patrol reported earlier this year, the British government commissioned an independent review of smoking-related health disparities in February. The independent study, led by Javed Khan, was published last week and the recommendations align with harm reduction strategies.

The EU parliament recently adopted the Special Committee on Beating Cancer ’s (BECA) final report – recognizing the potential contribution of alternative products to smoking cessation.

As the UK announces support for medical licensing of e-cigarettes, experts debate the issue in a recent published article in the British Medical Journal.

The independent German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) has recently published its third preliminary health risk assessment for nicotine pouches, acknowledging its potential as a risk-reducing product for smokers.

In 2020, the European Parliament approved the creation of a Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA). BECA concluded its work on 9 December 2021, by adopting a report with calls for stronger EU action against cancer, on its last meeting before the end of BECA’s mandate. In the report, BECA introduces for the first time a tobacco harm reduction perspective on EU level, but regrettably also recommends measures counterproductive to this aim.

The results of a survey performed by the Ministry of Health in New Zealand show decreasing smoking rates, while the use of less harmful nicotine products increase.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is inviting manufacturers to submit products for approval to be prescribed. This means that the U.K could become the first country in the world to prescribe e-cigarettes licensed as a medical product, to lower the smoking prevalence.