The work carried out by researchers Rodrigo Córdoba, Vidal Barchilón, Francisco Pascual, and Joan B. Soriano, recently published by ‘Elsevier,’ reveals that the benefit/risk balance of the so-called harm reduction (HR) by the tobacco industry is «clearly unfavorable» for public health.
HR refers to policies and practices to minimize the adverse consequences for health, society, and the economy of a behavior. The HR strategy aims to mitigate the negative consequences of a behavior without completely ending it, while it confuses «people who may decide to quit tobacco or its derivatives,» explain the researchers.
The article highlights the reduction of harm perception by the tobacco industry. «This includes products containing nicotine and various components, offered to consumers as products with technical and scientific improvements that result in fewer harmful effects and are therefore presumably safer or less toxic,» they indicate.
Among these products are filtered cigarettes; light cigarettes, low in tar and nicotine; smokeless tobacco; and nicotine-releasing devices known as e-cigarettes.
Regarding e-cigarettes, researchers point out that the different concentration of toxins compared to cigarettes does not mean less risk in the medium and long term. «The addictive effects and short-term respiratory and cardiovascular consequences may be similar,» they assure.
«In countries like Italy, the consumption of new nicotine and heated tobacco release products has been associated in adult males with an increase in the prevalence of smoking,» the researchers highlight.
Additionally, they emphasize that a false premise for the industry to propose e-cigarettes is the supposed existence of a ‘hard core’ of smokers who cannot quit or have failed with other methods. «However, tobacco control reduces the prevalence of smoking and promotes a smoking population more amenable to evidence-based interventions,» they add.
In this regard, they assert that the most evidence-based strategies for tobacco control involve increasing tobacco prices, harmonizing legislation for all tobacco or tobacco-related products, expanding smoke-free spaces for any device, and providing access to scientifically proven treatments.