International Harm Reduction Day: Sweden’s life-saving strategies can defeat smoking worldwide

STOCKHOLM – On International Harm Reduction Day (May 7), Smoke Free Sweden is calling on world leaders, public health authorities and civil society to embrace the proven harm reduction strategies that have made Sweden a global model in the fight against smoking.

With smoking rates in Sweden now by far the lowest in the EU, the country is on the brink of becoming the world’s first nation to achieve official smoke-free status when prevalence drops below 5%.

This remarkable achievement has been driven by avoiding prohibition and applying pragmatic policies that support the switch from cigarettes to safer nicotine alternatives such as snus, nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes.

“Sweden’s success has come not from bans or blame, but from offering safer options that meet people where they are,” said Dr. Delon Human, a global public health advocate and leader of Smoke Free Sweden.

“On International Harm Reduction Day, our message to the world is simple: as well as celebrating lifesaving policies on this day, let’s make them the foundation of a bright, smoke-free future for the whole planet.

“If every country followed Sweden’s lead, we’d start to defeat the tobacco epidemic that kills more than 8 million people a year.”

This year, Smoke Free Sweden has been highlighting how other countries could benefit from following the Swedish model, which includes risk-proportionate taxation, evidence-based education and wide access to safer alternatives for adult consumers.

The research demonstrates how nations struggling to reduce smoking prevalence could make major public health gains by embracing harm reduction.

Key findings from the comparative reports include:

France: While Sweden has cut smoking rates by 55% in a decade, France’s prohibitionist approach has managed just a 1 percentage point reduction in 11 years (28% to 27%), resulting in a smoking rate that is five times higher than Sweden’s.

Spain: Despite years of traditional tobacco control in Spain, smoking remains stubbornly high at 25%. A Swedish-style approach would have saved more than 30,000 lives.

Pakistan: Following the Swedish model of making safer alternatives accessible, acceptable and affordable to adult smokers could significantly reduce tobacco consumption in Pakistan, where almost one in four men smokes.

Kenya: Sweden’s male smoking rate is one third of Kenya’s, but the African nation is set to implement severe restrictions on the safer alternatives that have led to Sweden’s success

South Africa: With one in four adults smoking, South Africa could save millions of lives by emulating policies used in New Zealand, which has halved its smoking rate in five years by endorsing vapes as quitting aids.

Sweden has recently enshrined harm reduction as national policy when Parliament voted to change its focus from “reducing tobacco use”, to “reducing tobacco harm”. Ministers have also intervened at the EU to postpone a proposed ban on nicotine pouches in Spain in a move design to protect access to safer alternatives across the continent.

“Harm reduction is a human right and a global necessity,” Dr. Human said. “Every smoker deserves access to the tools and information that can help them quit or switch to something far less harmful. Let Sweden be the proof that this works – and let 2025 be the year the world acts.”