Recently, a number of public health experts in Sweden released a major report “Swedish Experience: A Roadmap to a Smoke-free Society”, saying that due to the promotion of harm reduction products such as e-cigarettes, Sweden will soon reduce the smoking rate to below 5%, becoming the first country in Europe and even the world. The world’s first “smoke free” (smoke free) country.
Figure: The Swedish Experience: A Roadmap to a Smoke-Free Society
The European Union announced in 2021 the goal of “Achieving Smoke-free Europe by 2040″, that is, by 2040, the smoking rate (number of cigarette users/total number*100%) will drop below 5%. Sweden completed the task 17 years ahead of schedule, which was regarded as a “landmark extraordinary feat”.
The report shows that when the national smoking rate was first calculated in 1963, there were 1.9 million smokers in Sweden, and 49% of men used cigarettes. Today, the total number of smokers has decreased by 80%.
Harm reduction strategies are key to Sweden’s astonishing achievements. “We know that cigarettes kill 8 million people every year. If other countries in the world also encourage smokers to switch to harm reduction products such as e-cigarettes, in the EU alone, 3.5 million lives can be saved in the next 10 years.” The author said in highlighted in the report.
Since 1973, the Swedish Public Health Agency has consciously controlled tobacco through harm reduction products. Whenever a new product appears, the regulatory authorities will investigate the relevant scientific evidence. If it is confirmed that the product is harm-reducing, it will open up management and even popularize science among the people.
In 2015, e-cigarettes became popular in Sweden. In the same year, international authoritative research confirmed that e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than cigarettes. Relevant departments in Sweden immediately encouraged smokers to switch to electronic cigarettes. Data show that the proportion of Swedish e-cigarette users has risen from 7% in 2015 to 12% in 2020. Correspondingly, the Swedish smoking rate has dropped from 11.4% in 2012 to 5.6% in 2022.
“Practical and enlightened management methods have greatly improved Sweden’s public health environment.” The World Health Organization has confirmed that the incidence of cancer in Sweden is 41% lower than that of other EU member states. Sweden is also the country with the lowest incidence of lung cancer and the lowest mortality rate of male smoking in Europe .
More importantly, Sweden has cultivated a “smoke-free generation”: the latest data show that the smoking rate of 16-29-year-olds in Sweden is only 3%, far below the 5% required by the European Union.
Chart: Sweden has the lowest teenage smoking rate in Europe
“Sweden’s experience is a gift to the global public health community. If all countries control tobacco like Sweden, tens of millions of lives will be saved.” harm, and provide appropriate policy support to the public, especially smokers, to educate the public about the benefits of harm reduction, so that smokers can conveniently purchase e-cigarettes, etc.
Post time: Apr-03-2023
