On World No Tobacco Day, specialists call for innovative tobacco harm reduction strategies

On World No Tobacco Day, specialists from the Global Sustainability Alliance’s (GSA) Leadership Council for Good Health and Well-being called for innovative tobacco harm reduction strategies in India. They emphasised the urgent need to implement evidence-based, progressive policies that align with users’ psychometric journeys to reduce the severe health and economic impacts of tobacco use.

The GSA leadership council emphasised the need for progressive harm reduction strategies that could potentially save 1.35 million lives annually. Tobacco-related diseases impact 267 million lives in India and cost the country almost 1 per cent of its GDP due to disease and premature deaths, according to a 2019 WHO report. Tobacco-related healthcare expenses amount to Rs. 13,500 crores annually.

Dr Bharat, Director and Head, Dept. of Pulmonology, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, Delhi Heart and Lung Institute (DHLI), said, “According to the report titled ‘Human Centric Approach to Tobacco Control’, 27 per cent of Indians use tobacco in some form, eventually resulting in a heavy disease burden, which is heart-wrenching to witness, the daily impact it has on families nationwide. It is a known fact by now that tobacco smoke contains over 70 known carcinogens. Many countries like the UK, Sweden & Japan have successfully reduced tobacco consumption, owing to evidence-based policies that their respective governments have adopted.”

Professor Dr R Zimlichman, Director of the Brunner Institute for Cardiovascular Research at Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, commented on the global success of progressive tobacco policies, saying, “Sweden is a great case study for policymakers, to see how harm reduction, a scientifically proven strategic policy approach, offers a pragmatic and potentially life-saving alternative. Embracing these strategies has led to a remarkable decline in mortality rates in Sweden, with almost a 41 per cent lower incidence of cancer in the country, as compared with the EU. The world needs standardised alternatives, promoted by governments, for their safety and efficacy.”

Further emphasising the importance of scientific strategies for India, Dr Karan Thakur, VP, Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi, stated, “Medical practitioners should advise patients to quit tobacco through approved nicotine replacement therapies and provide less harmful alternatives under strict regulation, for those who cannot quit entirely.”