Can the ‘Swedish model’ be applied to smokers – news

This is the reason why this country has the lowest rate of diseases related to smoking and a 41 percent lower death rate from tumors caused by this route compared to EU countries.

Sweden’s strategy to reduce the harmful effects of smoking and save lives rests on two foundations – banning smoking in certain areas and accepting smokeless nicotine and tobacco products as less harmful substitutes for cigarettes.

This was published in the report “The Swedish experience: the road to a smoke-free society”, and one of the authors, Dr. Anders Milton, claims that if other EU members applied the same principle as Sweden, in this decade alone the number of smokers in the EU would be reduced by 3.5 million.

Karl Fagerstrom, a clinical psychologist and anti-smoking campaigner, said at the conference “Swedish consumers’ approach to tobacco control” held in Stockholm that in countries where the acceptance of alternatives is higher, the number of smokers is lower. “Nevertheless, billions are spent on anti-smoking campaigns that have no effect, and not a penny on the promotion of substitute products,” says Dr. Fagerstorm. In his opinion, the World Health Organization, which wants to equate all alternative tobacco and nicotine products, even though they are proven to be incomparably less harmful, is “responsible” for that, with cigarettes, they write. News

– I am surprised by the attitude of the World Health Organization. I understand that they think it is possible to get rid of stimulants like nicotine, caffeine, alcohol. I thought the same thing 50 years ago. But look at what’s happening in the US right now – as the smoking rate goes down, the use of cannabis goes up. So maybe it is not impossible to get rid of nicotine, but only if we are ready to open the door to new stimulants – said Professor Fagerstrom. At the same time, he points out once again that when placed on the scale of harm, nicotine is far lower than cigarettes and combustion, which creates thousands of harmful substances.

Dr. Milton, who was at the head of the Swedish and later the world medical association, highlights another country as a positive example of the application of the concept of harm reduction. The British Institute of Public Health issued a directive to doctors – if someone smokes and cannot stop regardless of the help of the health sector, inform them about electronic cigarettes. Because it is a much better option than smoking – said Dr. Milton and concluded – Great Britain has decided to minimize the problem, when it cannot solve it already and I think that is a good approach.

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