A briefing paper from the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR) late last year highlighted that when the Office for National Statistics first started compiling its UK smoking figures half a century ago, more than half of men – and more than 40 per cent of women – were smokers. Now, however, we’re fast approaching the ‘landmark’ moment when the proportion of vapers will overtake smokers, it pointed out (DDN, November 2024, page 6).
Analysis by anti-smoking charity ASH found that vapes are by far the most popular and effective aid used by people trying to stop smoking, with almost 3m people saying they’d used them to successfully quit during the five years to March 2024 (DDN, September 2024, page 4). But myths around vaping persist, not helped by media scare stories and the ongoing opposition of some public health bodies, and the number of people who mistakenly believe that vaping is as harmful as – or even more harmful than – smoking continues to increase.
These myths are among the issues being addressed by a new online course from Knowledge Action Change (KAC), the organisation that runs the GSTHR project. The free course offers a ‘solid introduction’ to tobacco harm reduction and its evidence base, placing it firmly in the context of other, more long-established aspects of harm reduction.
Encouraging as many smokers as possible to switch to safer nicotine products – not just vapes but heated tobacco products, nicotine pouches and snus – provides a ‘massive’ harm reduction opportunity to cut the rates of smoking-related disease, says GSTHR, which hopes the course will help to promote the evidence base to a much wider audience.
Designed to take a total of around two or three hours in separate modules, the course has been developed in partnership with public health experts, researchers, and medical professionals, and funded by a grant from Global Action to End Smoking. It covers the primary safer nicotine products, which groups and populations could most benefit, and the main public health debates – including myth-busting. The format includes reading modules, videos and practical exercises, and is designed to be as flexible and interactive as possible.
Those successfully completing the final assessment will receive a certificate to add to their professional portfolio. They will also, says GSTHR, be equipped with the ‘knowledge and tools needed to make informed decisions and advocate for effective harm reduction approaches’ – that is, able to properly define tobacco harm reduction and its key principles, recognise the importance of risk-proportionate regulation, and evaluate the range of critiques and challenges.
Previous initiatives from GSTHR include its Tobacco Harm Reduction Scholarship Programme, launched in 2018, which now has a 100-plus alumni network worldwide that has helped to increase awareness and capacity among professional sectors in more than 50 countries. GSTHR has also highlighted how tobacco harm reduction could have transformative effects for rough sleeping communities, as well as people accessing drug and alcohol services (DDN, February 2024, page 6) – around half of whom are smokers, according to OHID figures.
Professionals such as social workers should also be given the tools to promote tobacco harm reduction, GSTHR argues, as they’re frequently the ‘initial, and in some cases, only’ point of contact with a range of marginalised people – according to WHO figures around two thirds of people with severe mental health conditions are also smokers.
The Understanding Tobacco Harm Reduction course is open to anyone, with ‘only one eligibility requirement’, says KAC co-founder and emeritus professor at Imperial College London, Gerry Stimson – ‘a desire to reduce smoking and tobacco-related harm.’
Tobacco harm reduction is a ‘potentially game-changing public health approach’, he states ‘Maybe you work with clients or patients whose tobacco use impacts their lives, or maybe you’re interested in new ways of tackling social issues.’
Sign up for Understanding Tobacco Harm Reduction here