{"id":12409,"date":"2024-11-29T10:12:52","date_gmt":"2024-11-29T10:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/vapes-could-help-save-up-to-616-000-lives-in-nigeria-and-kenya-new-report-shows\/"},"modified":"2025-01-07T12:08:22","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T12:08:22","slug":"vapes-could-help-save-up-to-616-000-lives-in-nigeria-and-kenya-new-report-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/vapes-could-help-save-up-to-616-000-lives-in-nigeria-and-kenya-new-report-shows\/","title":{"rendered":"Vapes could help save up to 616,000 lives in Nigeria and Kenya, new report shows"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Better access to vapes and other nicotine alternatives could save up to 616,000 lives in Nigeria and Kenya, a major new report has revealed. <\/p>\n

According to the study \u2018Saving 600,000 Lives in Nigeria and Kenya<\/a>\u2019 by global health group Smoke Free Sweden, 9.4 per cent of Nigerians currently smoke. <\/p>\n

Each year, 26,900 Nigerians die from tobacco-related illnesses. <\/p>\n

In Kenya, a huge 20.5 per cent of the population smoke, killing around 12,000 people per year. <\/p>\n

The World Health Organization (WHO) projects that tobacco-related deaths will drop to 18,000 in Nigeria and 8,000 in Kenya annually by 2060 with measures currently in place, but health experts argue this number remains far too high.<\/p>\n

Decreasing the number of deaths<\/strong><\/p>\n

The new report says the predicted death toll could be massively reduced by incorporating tobacco harm reduction (THR) into public health policymaking. <\/p>\n

This would include making safer nicotine alternatives such as vapes, nicotine pouches and snus more easily available to people looking to give up smoking.<\/p>\n

The research predicts that 400,000 lives could be saved in Nigeria, and 216,000 in Kenya. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a clear opportunity to significantly reduce the burden of tobacco-related diseases in Nigeria,\u201d said Derek Yach, one of the report\u2019s authors and former leader of the Foundation for a Smoke Free World. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cBy embracing safer alternatives like vapes and nicotine pouches, Nigeria can drastically lower tobacco-related deaths and help smokers quit more effectively. Tobacco harm reduction is the key to saving lives and improving public health in Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n

And regarding Kenya, he said: \u201cKenya can avoid unnecessary deaths by adopting these proven tools to complement existing tobacco control efforts. As Kenyan lawmakers consider a new tobacco bill, they have a unique opportunity. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey should embrace a balanced tobacco control policy that includes both regulation of conventional tobacco products and access to safer alternatives for smokers looking to quit.\u201c<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The success of other countries<\/strong><\/p>\n

Countries such as Sweden, Japan and New Zealand have provided compelling evidence of what THR measures such as making vapes more accessible can achieve. <\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Sweden became the first country in the world to officially be declared \u201csmoke-free\u201d (which means a smoking rate of less than five per cent). It credits its success with having promoted less harmful alternative products to people looking to quit smoking. <\/p>\n

In June, Sweden reduced tax on snus by 20 per cent<\/a>. The move followed a landmark report – \u2018No Smoke, Less Harm\u2019<\/a> – that proves nicotine use does not lead to tobacco-related disease, making it a powerful tool in smoking cessation.<\/p>\n

The new report says: \u201cTHR products use nicotine without the deadly exposures that cause harm. THR products (e-cigarettes\/vapes, heated tobacco products, snus, oral nicotine pouches, and e-shisha products are rapidly gaining traction among consumers world- wide. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut these innovations have not yet been embraced by physicians and governments as key to cutting premature deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malaysia and Uzbekistan<\/strong><\/p>\n

In May, Smoke Free Sweden released a similar report showing that 880,000 lives could be saved<\/a> in Malaysia and Uzbekistan if THR products were included in public health strategy.  <\/p>\n

Smoking rates in Malaysia are set to increase from 29.7 per cent in 2020 to 30 per cent in 2025, with 18,000 lives being lost to tobacco-related illness annually by 2060.<\/p>\n

In Uzbekistan, the WHO estimates that the annual number of deaths linked to smoking will average 20,000 by 2060.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to the study \u2018Saving 600,000 Lives in Nigeria and Kenya\u2019 by global health group Smoke Free Sweden, 9.4 per cent of Nigerians currently smoke.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990002,"featured_media":12419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[],"slider":[],"class_list":["post-12409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/990002"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12409"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19169,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12409\/revisions\/19169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12409"},{"taxonomy":"slider","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/slider?post=12409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}