UK-based public health agency, Knowledge•Action•Change (K•A•C), is launching a free online course called Understanding Tobacco Harm Reduction in a bid to reduce the disease and mortality caused by combustible tobacco and toxic smokeless products.
Smoking-related diseases continue to cause eight million global deaths each year, but nicotine is not the cause of tobacco-related illnesses. For people who cannot, or will not, give up smoking, there is now a range of alternative nicotine-delivery options available that pose fewer risks to health. Encouraging as many of those who smoke to switch to these safer nicotine products (SNP) - which include nicotine vapes (e-cigarettes), heated tobacco products, nicotine pouches and snus - provides a massive opportunity for global tobacco harm reduction efforts to reduce smoking-related disease. This course promotes the evidence base for this potentially life-saving public health intervention to a wide audience.
Since 2018, K•A•C’s groundbreaking Tobacco Harm Reduction Scholarship Programme (THRSP) has nurtured a new generation of tobacco harm reduction researchers and advocates. The growing alumni network - now well over 100 strong - has rapidly increased THR knowledge and capacity among populations and professional sectors in 55 countries across six continents. To build on this success, the team behind the THRSP is now providing the opportunity for all those seeking to reduce the toll of smoking to access a high-quality open access course, Understanding Tobacco Harm Reduction.
The course was developed with contributions from a range of experts in public health and tobacco harm reduction, including researchers, medical professionals, and educators dedicated to promoting health and well-being. The course is funded by a grant from Global Action to End Smoking.
Professor Gerry Stimson, co-founder of K•A•C and Emeritus Professor at Imperial College London, said:
“This course is open to everyone – and there’s only one eligibility requirement, which is a desire to reduce smoking and tobacco-related harm. Maybe you smoke, or someone you love does. Maybe you work with clients or patients whose tobacco use impacts their lives. Maybe you’re interested in new ways of tackling social issues. To gain insight into this potentially game-changing public health approach, sign up for Understanding Tobacco Harm Reduction, for free.”
The modular, self-guided programme is designed to be completed over two to three hours, with an assessment to test knowledge at the end. Participants will gain a solid introduction to THR, its evidence base and its context among other long-established areas of harm reduction. They will learn how THR can complement and accelerate the impact of other policies intended to reduce smoking and tobacco-related harms.
By the end of the course, participants will know about the main types of safer nicotine product, which groups and populations can most benefit from THR, and the main debates about the role and potential of THR in public health. They will be equipped with the knowledge and tools needed to make informed decisions and advocate for effective harm reduction approaches. Participants will also be able to describe common myths about tobacco harm reduction, as well as understanding the connection between the right to health and the right to tobacco harm reduction.
Sign up here to join the free, open-access course, Understanding Tobacco Harm Reduction. Once the registration form has been completed, participants will receive access to all course materials. Assessment is based on the completion of reading modules and practical exercises as well as the quizzes. There is no final exam or grading, but those who successfully complete the course will receive a certificate which can be added to their personal and professional portfolios.
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Notes to editors
Contact: For further information, please contact Oliver on 07930279916 or at [email protected].
About us: Knowledge•Action•Change (K•A•C) promotes harm reduction as a key public health strategy grounded in human rights. The team has decades of experience of harm reduction work in drug use, HIV, smoking, sexual health, and prisons. As well as the Tobacco Harm Reduction Scholarship Programme (THRSP), K•A•C runs the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR), mapping the development of tobacco harm reduction, the use, availability and regulatory responses to safer nicotine products and smoking prevalence and related mortality in over 200 countries and regions. For all publications and live data, visit https://gsthr.org
Funding: The course was developed by K•A•C’s THRSP and funded with a grant from Global Action to End Smoking (formerly known as Foundation for a Smoke-Free World), an independent, U.S. nonprofit 501(c) (3) grant making organisation, accelerating science-based efforts worldwide to end the smoking epidemic. Global Action played no role in designing, implementing, data analysis, or interpretation of the report nor did Global Action edit or approve any presentations or publications from the report. The contents, selection, and presentation of facts, as well as any opinions expressed, are the sole responsibility of the authors and should not be regarded as reflecting the positions of Global Action to End Smoking.
