Advancing harm reduction strategies: A new role for oral nicotine products.
Globally, public health strategies have focused on tobacco control measures to make smoking less appealing. While tobacco control has a role to play, it is only part of the solution.
There is a growing scientific consensus that reduced-risk products can play a significant role in reducing the health impacts associated with cigarette smoking.
“Unfortunately, over the last 20 years, we've seen that scientific mindset and curiosity erode. We now have leading jurisdictions of tobacco control—countries like the UK or New Zealand—with progressive regulatory frameworks and remarkable declines in the rate of cigarette smoking. Meanwhile, WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is still reporting, 20 years later, over one billion smokers. To me, that's a failure of creativity and scientific process.”
At Air2, we'd like to believe that we have not given up on innovation and the science behind truly safer, reduce harm nicotine products, such as Air2's VaporEFX Inhaler and Sublingual.
What are Nicotine Pouches anyway?
Oral nicotine pouches are made from a cellulose-based fille, flavors and nicotine - undergo rigorous safety assessments, and meet or exceed stringent regulatory standards. Due to their simple composition, oral nicotine pouches carry the lowest risk profile among smokeless tobacco and nicotine products. Notably, they contain less than 1% of the harmful chemicals found in cigarette smoke.
Sweden: A model for effective tobacco harm reduction.
Sweden continues to lead the way in demonstrating real-world outcomes of harm reduction strategies. The country has the lowest smoking prevalence in the European Union at 5.4%, despite similar tobacco use per capita to the EU average.
Long-term epidemiological data confirms that snus – a traditional Swedish oral tobacco product – is significantly lower risk compared to cigarettes.
Today, half of Swedish adults under 30 who previously used snus have now switched to oral nicotine pouches. As a result, Sweden has the lowest mortality rates from lung, trachea, bronchus, and oral cavity cancers in the EU.
However, despite this compelling evidence, snus remains banned outside Sweden under EU regulation – highlighting the need for more proportionate and science-based regulation for oral nicotine products across the region.
Our Takeaway:
BAT’s Commitment to Science, Transparency, and Innovation.
BAT remains committed to advancing tobacco harm reduction through robust scientific research, transparent communication, and next-generation product development. The company actively collaborates with regulators, public health bodies, and independent researchers to support responsible innovation.
To further these efforts, BAT recently launched Omni™, a dedicated platform to share the science of tobacco harm reduction and foster collaboration among scientists, policymakers, and public health professionals.
