The greatest reduction in smoking-related deaths will come from reducing the number of people who smoke combustible cigarettes. While many people quit smoking without assistance or with the help of cessation medicines, others require different approaches.
Tobacco harm reduction aims to expand the range of options available to people who smoke. Providing access to accessible, affordable, appropriate and acceptable safer nicotine products can help more people switch away from combustible cigarettes and reduce their exposure to the toxic substances produced by tobacco combustion.
The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control recognises harm reduction as one of the three pillars of tobacco control, alongside measures to reduce tobacco demand and supply. However, the World Health Organization has generally not supported the use of safer nicotine products as a tobacco harm reduction strategy. We support wider access to safer nicotine products for adults who smoke and are unable or unwilling to quit nicotine completely.