Science-based Harm Reduction: EU Health Ministers Urged to Adopt Safer Nicotine Alternatives

As EU health ministers gather in Brussels for a two-day meeting, consumer representatives and proponents are urging them to embrace science-based tobacco harm reduction strategies. The meeting will cover a range of topics, including Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, which aims to reduce smoking rates through legislative initiatives that address cancer risk factors like reducing tobacco and alcohol consumption and promoting healthy diets.

Director of the World Vapers Alliance, Michael Landl, believes this meeting is an opportunity for the EU to steer towards a smoke-free future by adopting safer and less harmful tobacco alternatives. He pointed to Sweden as an example of how such efforts have led the country to become one of the world’s first smoke-free nations.

Landl criticized the EU Commission for disregarding the science behind tobacco policies despite evidence showing that safer nicotine alternatives like vaping or pouches are significantly less harmful than smoking and can assist in smoking cessation. He urged EU health ministers to seize this opportunity and advocate for regulations that could prevent 700,000 unnecessary deaths annually caused by smoking. The Beating Cancer Plan recognizes the role vaping can play in smoking cessation, and Landl emphasized the need for politicians to act accordingly.