Smoke Free Sweden calls on policymakers to fight vaping misinformation
Stockholm, 29 February – Smoke Free Sweden is urging policymakers to take action on vaping misinformation after new research found the majority of smokers in England wrongly believe vapes are as harmful as cigarettes.
The research, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, looked at survey responses from 28,000 current smokers between 2014 and 2023 and found that 57% thought vaping was just as harmful as smoking or more so, despite numerous public health authorities finding vaping to be dramatically reduced in risk.
The research also highlights the fact that e-cigarettes are effective in helping people to stop smoking and are less harmful than combustible cigarettes.
Commenting on the findings, Dr Delon Human, leader of the Smoke Free Sweden initiative and former Health Advisor to three WHO Director-Generals, said:
“This data is alarming and flies in the face of the available evidence. The risks associated with e-cigarettes are much lower than the risks of smoking.
“If policymakers do not act, there may be severe consequences for public health. The Swedish experience has shown us that if presented with the correct information, smokers can and do make the switch to less harmful alternative products.”
Sweden is on the cusp of becoming the first EU country to record a 5% smoking incidence, the official ‘smoke free’ threshold set out by the World Health Organization, due to the use of less harmful alternatives to smoking. Thanks to the high uptake of alternative products, smoking rates have dropped by 55% in the past decade.
As a result, Sweden has 44% fewer tobacco-related deaths, a cancer rate that is 41% lower, and 38% fewer deaths attributable to any cancer when compared with its EU counterparts.
ENDS
About Smoke Free Sweden
Smoke Free Sweden is a movement that encourages other countries to follow the Swedish experience when it comes to Tobacco Harm Reduction. Sweden is about to become the first ‘smoke free’ European country, with a smoking rate of below 5 percent. This remarkable achievement can be attributed to Sweden’s open attitude towards alternative products.
For more information on Sweden’s successful approach to becoming a smoke free nation, please visit www.smokefreesweden.org.
Contact
Smoke Free Sweden
info@smokefreesweden.org
www.smokefreesweden.org