Adopt Swedish Policies
Global policymakers have been urged to adopt Sweden’s successful tobacco harm reduction strategies on World No Tobacco Day by the experts at Smoke Free Sweden
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by Dave Cross
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On World No Tobacco Day, Smoke Free Sweden urged global policymakers to adopt Sweden’s successful tobacco harm reduction strategies that have virtually wiped-out smoking. It told them that Sweden’s policies, built around safer smokeless alternatives, have saved thousands of lives, contrasting sharply with moves in countries like Spain and France that are planning to restrict access to reduced-risk nicotine products.
Sweden’s progress towards smoke-free status, defined as less than 5% of the adult population smoking, has been as a public health victory. Government statistics released in November 2024 show that smoking prevalence among Swedish-born adults has fallen to just 4.5%. At the same time the Swedish Parliament has shifted its national tobacco control focus from reducing tobacco use to actively reducing tobacco harm.
They say that this balanced approach required creating the conditions for safer nicotine alternatives, such as snus, nicotine pouches and vaping products, to be accessible, affordable, and socially acceptable.
As a result, Sweden has seen its smoking rate plummet by more than half since 2012. This figure contrasts with all other European Union countries, where smoking rates are, on average, five times higher than in Sweden.
The public health dividends for Sweden are significant:
- The country experiences dramatically lower rates of smoking-related diseases
- Sweden's male lung cancer death rate is 61% lower than the European average
- Its rate of total cancer deaths is 34% lower than the EU average
Dr Delon Human, a global public health advocate and leader of Smoke Free Sweden, told Planet of the Vapes: “If you want proof that evidence-based policy works against smoking, just examine Sweden’s results.
“We urge governments worldwide, particularly those currently moving to restrict access to safer alternatives, to look closely at Sweden. The Swedish experience is the result of people-focused, science-based decisions that have saved, and continue to save, countless lives.
“The question for other nations is no longer if tobacco harm reduction works, but why they are not implementing it.”
Smoke Free Sweden says research shows that if every European Union (EU) member adopted Sweden’s policies, approximately 355,000 lives could be saved each year across the EU. This represents more than 3.5 million lives over a decade.
Smoke Free Sweden's call to action is further supported by the findings of an extensive global consultation, detailed in the report, “Learnings from Smoke-Free Sweden: A Global Consultation”.
This report compiles insights and recommendations from numerous international experts, including doctors, academic researchers, dentists and psychologists. These experts collectively endorse Sweden's approach, calling for policymakers to:
- Recognise and differentiate the risk levels between combustible cigarettes and safer nicotine products
- Ensure that safer alternatives are accessible, acceptable and affordable to adult smokers
- Implement accurate risk communication to enable informed choices
As Sweden pulls ahead of its peers, ideological opposition to harm reduction in other regions threatens public health. Restricting or banning less harmful alternatives, as seen in recent policy proposals in Spain and France, risks leaving smokers without viable options to quit combustible tobacco, the most dangerous form of nicotine consumption, the organisation adds.
“The message from Sweden is clear: a smoke-free future is achievable. It requires courage, a commitment to science and a willingness to welcome innovation in health policy,” Smoke-Free Sweden concluded.
Photo Credit:
Meme altered by author, Flag of European Union.png (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_European_Union.png) resized and added to meme images under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Deed (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), added to Bronze Medal meme by 3palec (Artist), Russia (https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/bronze-medal)
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
