European Studies Point To A Gateway Out Of Smoking

MAJOR new international research proves Kenya is trailing the rest of the world in embracing the latest technology to reduce deaths from smoking.

A study by Public Health England (PHE) found there is growing evidence that alternative nicotine delivery products play a crucial role in helping people to give up smoking.

The PHE report comes less than a month after a study by the European Commission found that the number of smokers using nicotine alternatives to successfully kick their cigarette habit has doubled in just three years.

CASA chairman Joe Magero says: “These authoritative and independent reports offer yet more proof that alternative nicotine products, such as tobacco-free pouches and e-cigarettes, can help save some of the 30,000 Kenyan lives lost to smoking every year.

“Despite evidence that these alternative products can deliver nicotine with significantly reduced risk compared to traditional ‘combustible’ cigarettes, our policymakers continue to treat them all the same. Smokers are being denied a gateway out of smoking, and lives are being unnecessarily lost.”

The PHE report, published on Tuesday, found:

• Most smokers trying to quit had used an e-cigarette or vaping product

• Vaping products were the most effective method for quitting, with a 78% success rate in some regions

• In a single year, more than 50,000 smokers had managed to quit by using a vaping product

The EC’s Eurobarometer report, published on February 3, found:

• Compared to 2017, the number of smokers who say that electronic cigarettes or similar devices helped them to stop smoking tobacco completely doubled from 14% to 31%

• Sweden has achieved the lowest smoking rate in Europe, with 23% of Swedes using a form of nicotine pouch to stop or to try stop smoking

Magero adds: “If Kenyans are told that harm reduction products, such as pouches and vaping devices, are the same as cigarettes, there’s a danger they will be deterred from making the switch to less risky products.

“Our regulators need to catch up with the rest of the world and recognize there are safer alternatives that will cut smoking numbers and reduce the death toll.”

By Joe Magero, Chair of Campaign for Safer Alternatives (CASA).