Some things never seem to change in the world of tobacco control. At the end of 2021, there are still more than 1 billion smokers in the world, and about 8 million deaths each year from tobacco-related diseases, most of them in lower-to-middle-income countries.
The World Health Organization and the Secretariat that oversees the landmark agreement, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, was still stressing the need for a nicotine-free world while demonizing tobacco harm reduction (THR) and reduced risk products (RRPs).
Politicians and NGOs such as Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids followed suit, warning that such products were a gateway to combustible smoking for credulous youth.
Despite these considerable roadblocks, ‘one small step at a time’ was the mantra for THR in the past year. In the middle of a pandemic, as people sheltered at home and countries closed their borders, as our professional and private worlds shrank to cyber meetings on computer screens, the fact that smokers could benefit from access to RRPs that pose significantly less harm than conventional, toxic cigarettes, became ever-more apparent.
Derek Yach – Medium – 2021-12-24.
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