{"id":26728,"date":"2025-09-26T09:00:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T09:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/?p=26728"},"modified":"2025-09-26T09:04:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T09:04:25","slug":"four-countries-leading-the-way-in-harm-reduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/four-countries-leading-the-way-in-harm-reduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Four countries leading the way in harm reduction"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"clear-before-content-2\" style=\"margin-top: 20px;margin-bottom: 20px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\" id=\"clear-2393131871\"><img src=\"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/caafc5c68900198b80aee12c11b50184.avif\" alt=\"\"   style=\"display: inline-block;\" \/><\/div>\n<p><strong>New evidence shows that four countries are proving safer nicotine alternatives can cut smoking rates, prevent disease and save lives.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The findings come from <a href=\"https:\/\/smokefreesweden.org\/safer-nicotine-revolution.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Safer Nicotine Revolution: Global Lessons, Healthier Futures<\/a>, a new report that tracks how products such as nicotine pouches, vapes and heated tobacco products are helping millions of smokers switch away from deadly cigarettes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Sweden: smoke-free status in sight<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Sweden is on course to be <a href=\"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/sweden-set-to-be-declared-worlds-first-smoke-free-country\/\">the world\u2019s first \u201csmoke-free\u201d nation<\/a>, with just 5.3 per cent of adults smoking and only 4.9 per cent of men &#8211; the lowest rates in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>76.3% of men and 71.6% of women who use snus have quit smoking completely<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Risk of heart disease cut by 45% when switching from smoking to snus<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Around 3,000 lives saved each year<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lung cancer deaths among men 61% lower than EU average<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Overall cancer deaths 34% lower than EU average<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Smoking down 54% in 12 years, women\u2019s smoking down 49% since 2016<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Japan: cigarettes halved in a decade<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Japan\u2019s introduction of heated tobacco products (HTPs) in 2014 triggered the fastest drop in smoking in the country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Smoking prevalence dropped from 21% in 2015 to 16% in 2023<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>12.4% of adults now use HTPs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cigarette sales fell 52% between 2015 and 2023 (182bn to 88bn sticks)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Modelling shows 12m cases of smoking-related disease could be prevented if half of smokers switched<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"391\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-4-391x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26737\" style=\"width:300px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-4-391x1024.png 391w, https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-4-115x300.png 115w, https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-4-370x968.png 370w, https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-4.png 486w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 391px) 100vw, 391px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>United Kingdom: vaping built into NHS services<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The UK has integrated vaping into its stop-smoking programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Smoking fell from 20.2% in 2011 to 11.9% in 2023 (41% reduction)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>5.5m adults now vape, with more than half quitting smoking entirely<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>166,000 premature deaths projected to be prevented by 2052<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Since 2013: cardiovascular deaths down 19%, COPD deaths down 15%, cancer deaths down 13%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hospital admissions for smoking-related illness fell from 446,400 in 2019\u201320 to 408,700 in 2022\u201323<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>New Zealand: smoking halved in six years<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>New Zealand <a href=\"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/new-zealand-nears-smoke-free-status-thanks-to-vaping-says-minister\/\">halved smoking<\/a> between 2018 and 2024 after legalising vaping and heated tobacco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Vaping prevalence rose from 2.6% to 11.1%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>78% of daily vapers are ex-smokers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>COPD hospitalisations down 29% between 2017 and 2022<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Smoking-related cardiovascular deaths down 20% between 2009 and 2021<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Biomarker modelling projects 195,000 extra quality-adjusted life years<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"729\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-2-729x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26729\" style=\"width:450px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-2-729x1024.png 729w, https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-2-213x300.png 213w, https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-2-370x520.png 370w, https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-2-600x843.png 600w, https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-2.png 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 729px) 100vw, 729px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Why it matters<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The report says these examples prove safer nicotine alternatives deliver measurable benefits: fewer deaths, fewer hospitalisations and better health outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Low and middle income countries, which account for 80 per cent of smoking-related deaths, stand to gain most. Experts say regulated alternatives such as nicotine pouches could replace dangerous local products like gutka in India and Bangladesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"clear-after-content-2\" style=\"margin-top: 20px;margin-bottom: 20px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\" id=\"clear-2304885783\"><img src=\"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/caafc5c68900198b80aee12c11b50184.avif\" alt=\"\"   style=\"display: inline-block;\" \/><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New evidence shows that four countries are proving safer nicotine alternatives can cut smoking rates, prevent disease and save lives. The findings come from The Safer Nicotine Revolution: Global Lessons, Healthier Futures, a new report that tracks how products such as nicotine&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990002,"featured_media":26735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[334,342,186,333,326],"slider":[],"class_list":["post-26728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-global","tag-new-zealand","tag-nicotine","tag-sweden","tag-united-kingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26728","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=26728"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26760,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26728\/revisions\/26760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26728"},{"taxonomy":"slider","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/slider?post=26728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}