Global leaders and public health officials from around the world are striving to eradicate smoking…but will they actually hit their smokefree targets?
“I suspect that history will not reflect fondly on the faux moral outrage that led to the death of thousands of smokers.”
Tackling the raging smoking epidemic is at the forefront of international public health, with global leaders pledging to eliminate the world’s number one killer…cigarettes.
Many hope to bring an end to smoking in the next two decades, implementing policies and schemes to help people kick the deadly habit.
But, with millions of lives hanging in the balance, the real question is whether or not they will succeed.
Here we highlight three countries – the UK, New Zealand and Canada – which have all made international headlines for their respective approaches to vape regulation, to see how their smokefree goals are going.
UK
Revered for its progressive, ‘gold standard’ approach to harm reduction, the UK government has allowed vaping to play an intricate role in its fight against smoking addiction.
Many believe the UK’s embrace of reduced risk products – which could be prescribed on the country’s National Health Service under bold new plans – will help it achieve its smokefree 2030goal.
Mark Pawsey of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vaping said that, while the government has taken a ‘world-leading approach’, experts predict we won’t reach our deadline until 2037.
He said: “There is a long way for us to go to reach the Smoke-Free 2030 goal, and until we do, some of the most vulnerable members of our society are disproportionately affected.
“We must do this by embracing not just traditional tobacco control methods, but by following a harm reduction approach whole-heartedly.”
New Zealand
Making headlines around the world for its no nonsense approach to smoking – and its pragmatic attitude towards vaping – New Zealand is leading the charge against cigarettes.
Kiwi policymakers have adopted a number of radical and aggressive policies to hit their fast-approaching smokefree 2025 deadline.
The most controversial of these was a generational ban on smoking, which prohibited anyone born after 2008 from ever buying tobacco products.
And while some argued that the ban was a breach of freedoms and liberties, others called it a necessary step in preventing millions of tobacco-related deaths.
Dr Alistair Humphrey, Chair of the New Zealand Medical Association said: “The smokefree generational policy will be a defining moment.
“Cigarettes kill 14 New Zealanders every day and two out of three smokers will die as a result of smoking…but this action plan offers some hope of realising our 2025 goal.”
Canada
Once one of the most ‘progressive’ countries when it came to vaping, many have accused Canada of pursuing ‘regressive’ policies and ‘denying the science’ on vaping.
And while the country’s leading health body – Health Canada – has acknowledged that e-cigarettes are less harmful than smoking, it has still proposed regulations that would devastate the lifesaving alternative.
The most alarming of these was a federal flavour ban that – even Health Canada confirmed – could put millions of lives at risk and drivethousands back to smoking.
Advocates, experts and pro-vaping lobbyists have since warned that health leaders need to offer a clear endorsement of reduced risk products, before they steer waves of Canadians back to tobacco.
They also pointed out that Canada was falling behind its smokefree 2035 campaign.
Darryl Tempestof the Canadian Vaping Association said: “The continued misinformation and half-truths are killing smokers.
“Continuing to conflate vaping with tobacco and the systematic denial of the science has caused Canada to lag behind other Commonwealth nations in eliminating tobacco use.
He added: “I suspect that history will not reflect fondly on the faux moral outrage that led to the death of thousands of smokers.”
To see how Canada may well be changing its tune after enlisting the help of pro-vaping czar Michael Pesko, see our story ‘Is there still hope for Canadian vapers?’