Asserting the claim that disruption will soon highlight the world of Tobacco globally, Dr. David Sweanor, British public health expert, revealed that cancer rates are drastically decreasing in countries where consumers have switched to smoking substitutes. Sweanor concurred that in both Sweden and England, cancer rates dropped 70% and 40% respectively after a large number of smokers switched to e-cigarettes as well as heat-not-burn products all the while stating that people are increasingly adopting such a technological innovation in Britain.
Present in the sixth Global Forum on Nicotine which took place in Warsaw on the dates extending from the 13th to the 15th of June, Sweanor assured participants that cardiovascular diseases caused by smoking are heavily linked to the mode and tools used to consume nicotine. Building on the latter, he stressed on the importance of governments making information pertaining to smoking substitutes available to its people so they can take an informed decision in such regard. Complementing Sweanor, Ricardo Bolosa, Italian Expert on tobacco harm reduction called for the establishment of a clear strategy for reducing the harm caused by burning tobacco and encouraging the use of risk reduced products.
Headquartered in New York City, Foundation for a Smoke-Free World also revealed its latest findings on trends governing the world of tobacco as part of its participation in the forum. The foundation announced that in 2017, the global market for Nicotine was USD 785 Billion with 89.1 % of it being regular cigarettes; yet, the demand for e-cigarettes rose to USD 11.4 Billion with incremental growth of up to 21% as opposed to the last three years. A staggering observation was also made with the market of heat-not-burn products which amounted to USD 6.3 Billion with increments of 529.8% as opposed to the last three years, noting that 85% of the latter statistic originates from Japan.
The foundation’s report also states that the big tobacco players in the industry are increasingly turning to electronic smoking substitutes and cited players such as Philip Morris International, the world’s leading tobacco producer, which pioneered IQOS, a heat-not-burn product now available in 43 countries. The latter reduced risk initiatives specially designed for adults have emerged as studies increasingly show that people who smoke traditional cigarettes are more prone to complications.
Participants in the forum also showcased a significant number of studies during the roundtable discussions and workshops which confirm that e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than regular cigarettes. Additionally, and according to what followed in the forum, an increasing number of markets are starting to adopt heat-not-burn products as a stepping stone to replace regular cigarette consumption.
As the market for such smoking substitutes continuously expands, the Japanese market, the world’s biggest market for heat-not-burn products, witnessed a decline of 27% in the sales of regular cigarettes during the last two years, a sight unseen before in the world of regular cigarette consumption.
It is also worthy to note that the Global Forum on Nicotine is considered to be the world’s biggest gathering that joins stakeholders ranging from consumers, producers, health experts, doctors as well as legislative figures and members of syndicates. In this edition, several pressing topics and trends pertaining to the world of Nicotine and Tobacco globally were discussed, and several ways and methods were showcased that reduce the damages of tobacco and provide satisfaction to adult smokers.