Mindset Shift Needed On Tobacco Harm Reduction

Monday, 31 March 2025, 11:44 am
Press Release: CAPHRA

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) today urged global tobacco control policymakers to abandon outdated prohibitionist approaches and embrace harm reduction strategies grounded in science.

Ahead of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’s (FCTC) COP11 meeting later this year, CAPHRA emphasised that meaningful progress requires inclusion, transparency, and a commitment to evidence-based policymaking.

Despite decades of tobacco control efforts, global smoking rates have stagnated at 1.1 billion smokers since 2000. CAPHRA attributes this failure to the FCTC’s refusal to engage with harm reduction strategies or include consumer organisations in its decision-making processes.

Nancy Loucas, CAPHRA Executive Coordinator, stated:

"The FCTC’s ‘quit or die’ approach has failed. It’s time for a mindset shift that prioritises science over ideology and inclusion over exclusion. Consumer organisations like CAPHRA represent millions who have successfully transitioned to safer alternatives—our lived experiences must inform policy."

The exclusion of consumer voices is systemic. No consumer group representing smokers or ex-smokers has ever been granted observer status at FCTC COP meetings, despite the WHO’s own guidelines emphasising civil society engagement.

"COP11 presents an opportunity for the WHO FCTC to finally grant observer status to consumer advocacy groups," Loucas continued. "Without the voices of those directly impacted by tobacco harm reduction strategies, policymaking remains disconnected from reality."

"The secrecy surrounding COP meetings undermines trust and progress. Hosting open consultations with civil society during proceedings would ensure accountability and bring much-needed balance to global tobacco control discussions."

Robust evidence supports harm reduction as a viable strategy for reducing smoking-related harm. PMI’s submission to the Royal College of Physicians’ (RCP) 2024 report on e-cigarettes and harm reduction highlighted that heated tobacco products, emit significantly lower levels of harmful and potentially harmful chemicals (HPHCs) compared to cigarettes, with reductions approaching those observed in smoking cessation studies. Similar findings from Public Health England highlight vaping as approximately 95% safer than smoking.

However, CAPHRA criticised the FCTC for ignoring this evidence while allowing its policies to be influenced by entities with vested interests, such as Bloomberg Philanthropies, which funds anti-harm reduction campaigns in Asia-Pacific nations including the Philippines and India.

"Countries like New Zealand and the UK have proven that risk-proportionate regulatory frameworks work—these models should inspire reforms at COP11," Loucas said. "We call on member states attending COP11 to stand up against foreign interference and reject campaigns that prioritise prohibition over measurable public health outcomes."

"The stakes are too high to repeat past mistakes. Nations must lead with courage, science, and compassion—placing smokers’ lives before politics."

© Scoop Media