Beating cancer with Harm Reduction

Almost one third of cancer cases in Europe are caused by smoking:

“Tobacco consumption continues to be the leading cause of preventable cancer, with 27% of all cancers attributed to tobacco use. By eliminating tobacco use, nine out every ten cases of lung cancer could be avoided.”^[1]

It is therefore more important than ever to use all means at hand to minimize smoking rates. Tobacco harm reduction is rated as a very good opportunity to significantly reduce the number of smokers. That is why it has to be included in an impactful EU Beating Cancer plan:

“When it comes to smoking cessation, the EU Commission is once again concentrating on the 'quit or die' approach instead of creating a realistic addiction policy.", says Prof Heino Stöver from the German Institute for Addiction Research at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. And further: “Great Britain, New Zealand and Canada are putting the e- Cigarette as a main tool in the fight against tobacco use and have been shown to be very successful.”^[2]

Cancer potencies: 0.5% of the risk of smoking

In embracing harm reduction the UK shows a better and more effective strategy to decrease the number of smokers. With broad education on harm-reducing alternatives, British health policy has drastically reduced the smoking rate within a few years. In 2011, 20 percent of the British still smoked, in 2019 it was around 14 percent.^[3]

In 2018, the government agency Public Health England (PHE) published a report with data on e-cigarettes. According to PHE, vapers have a 99.5 percent lower risk of cancer than smokers. Overall, PHE estimates that e-cigarettes are at least 95 percent less harmful than tobacco cigarettes.^[4]

Dustin Dahlmann, Chairman of IEVA: “We welcome the EU Beating Cancer Plan. The strategy needs to consider all means available to reduce the burden of cancer related risks: It is of utmost importance that preventive measures are flanked by tobacco harm reduction. Otherwise, millions of smokers might miss the opportunity to tremendously reduce their risk of cancer.”

^[1] EU Beating Cancer Plan, 2021. Link

^[2] Prof Heino Stöver, Press release, February 03, 2021. Link

^[3] Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2019. Link

^[4] “Evidence review of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products”, Public Health England 2018. Link