Today, one-fifth of adults in the Middle East are traditionally smoking, indicating an urgent need towards initiatives that can aid in bringing those rates down.
Tobacco harm reduction (THR), at its core, is a public health strategy that advocates for providing adult smokers, who choose not to quit, with reduced-risk* sources of nicotine as compared to smoking. In this effort, THR may prove to be a valuable tool to drive those ambitions.
THR provides a public health opportunity today, representing a pathway for hundreds of millions of adult smokers around the world, who would not otherwise quit, to transition from combustible tobacco products to smokeless alternative nicotine products.
Sweden and New Zealand lead the way
We’ve seen examples in Sweden and New Zealand witnessing striking success in reducing their smoking rates through endorsement of THR, where such strategies were driven by government-backed campaigns to make these smokeless alternatives available.
The example of Sweden is an instructive one – the country has seen smoking rates plummet to just 5.6 percent, demonstrating the profound impact of embracing THR as a policy. Sweden is on track to declare themselves smokefree this year – defined as having fewer than 5 percent daily smokers in the population – 16 years ahead of the 2040 E.U. target.
We’ve seen similar developments in New Zealand, where the government adopted and endorsed tobacco harm reduction into their public health policies to achieve its smoke-free ambition, by making less harmful alternatives available and accessible for adult smokers. New Zealand witnessed an accelerated 43 percent decline in its daily smoking rates. The smoking prevalence as of 2022-2023 was at 6.8 percent.
Their success lies not only in making a broad range of smokeless alternatives accessible to adult consumers and creating the alternative pathways to quitting smoking, but also regulating these products in a balanced manner, underpinned by the reduced risk nature of each product category as compared to smoking. For harm reduction to be truly effective, nicotine alternatives need to be recognized by society, the media, and policymakers as viable solutions rather than problems – which has been instrumental in their widespread adoption in Sweden.
The need for progressive approach to THR
A stakeholder-inclusive approach to accelerate tobacco harm reduction, and balanced regulations would enhance the effectiveness of THR as a policy, while diminishing the risk of the unintended consequences.
Local research conducted by Kantar, a global data, insights and consulting company, shows that in the UAE, where 9.5 percent of consumers are currently using non-combustible products, a remarkable 83 percent are open to making the switch to NCs. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, where 14 percent of consumers presently use reduced-risk* alternatives, 30 percent are open to making the switch.
Aligning global efforts for a holistic strategy
Globally, the industry should work alongside stakeholders to create a dialogue for balanced regulations and clear product standards to enable access to smokeless alternatives like vapor, heated products and nicotine pouches for the adult smokers who are looking for alternatives or who would otherwise continue to smoke, while preventing underage access and any growth of the illicit market. Illicit products become an impediment in the progress of tobacco harm reduction and the category itself, which leads to the stakeholder’s misconception of these products not being reduced-risk*.
Furthermore, a shift towards an evidence-based, risk-proportionate regulations could hold the key to accelerating the switch for adult smokers, who would otherwise continue to smoke, thus reducing the smoking rates. Regulating vapor, heated products and nicotine pouches in accordance with the risk profile of each category represents a pragmatic and evidence-based approach to tobacco control that prioritizes harm reduction and public health outcomes.
To learn more about the scientific and real-world evidence in support of a harm reduction approach to reducing smoking, BAT Group’s Omni™ is a resource intended for scientists, public health authorities, regulators, policy makers, and investors.
* Based on the weight of evidence and assuming a complete switch from cigarette smoking. These products are not risk free and are addictive.
Alexandre Ghanem is general manager, BAT Middle East Cluster, covering KSA, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan.
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