Research Articles

Pakistan: A challenge to quitting smoking (February 28, 2022)
Tobacco was not cultivated in Pakistan when the country gained freedom. It had to be imported to meet local demand. Tobacco manufacturing began on a trial basis in 1948. Prior to 1968, however, the standard of tobacco cultivation was poor, necessitating massive tobacco imports. Click for detail

Smoking cessation: A challenge for Pakistan (February 16, 2022)
Globally, tobacco is a leading cause of over 8 million deaths each year and a substantial risk factor for developing illnesses, including lung, liver, oral, and throat cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, and stroke. A major fraction of these deaths-roughly 7 million are caused by direct tobacco use, whereas 1.2 million are caused by secondhand smoke exposure. Click for detail

ARI Newsletter January 2022 (February 05, 2022)
Globally, tobacco is a leading cause of over 8 million deaths each year and a substantial risk factor for developing illnesses, including lung, liver, oral, and throat cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, and stroke. A major fraction of these deaths-roughly 7 million are caused by direct tobacco use, whereas 1.2 million are caused by secondhand smoke exposure. Click for detail

Impediments to tobacco harm reduction in LMICs (January 19, 2022)
The Foundation for a Smoke Free World (FSFW) has a goal to advance progress in smoking cessation and tobacco harm reduction (THR) with a particular focus on LMICs. To better understand some of the challenges faced in these markets, FSFW commissioned Cambridge Design Partnership (CDP), a UK end-to-end innovation partner, to identify the barriers or impediments to adoption of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) in LMIC countries. Click for detail

Flavor Ban Risks Lives, Warns Cardiologist (January 14, 2022)
Restrictions on flavors in vaping products would be a drastic setback in the battle to reduce the 48,000 Canadian lives lost every year to smoking, according to a new independent study released on Jan. 11. Click for detail

Ten Underlying Reasons Behind Opposition to Vaping (January 14, 2022)
For decades, tobacco control and public health organizations have sought to stigmatize tobacco, nicotine, smoking and smokers. The invention of vaping, a far safer nicotine alternative which looks like smoking, is a threat to their strongly-held views and the traditional approach. Click for detail

Remaining smokers in Norway don't really want to quit (January 14, 2022)
"The results of our study shows that it might be about time to better facilitate a transition from dangerous tobacco products to less harmful ones, such as e-cigarettes and snus (dry snuff)"' says tobacco researcher Karl Erik Lund at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH). Click for detail

Swedish Match Divestment: Considerations for the Tobacco Transformation Index (January 14, 2022)
In September 2021, Swedish Match AB announced that it plans to spin off its cigar business and become an entirely "smokefree" company. The spin-off is targeted for completion by the second half of 2022. As Table 1 illustrates, cigars currently represent 28% of Swedish Match's revenue, with the remainder of its portfolio mostly comprising oral tobacco and nicotine products: snus, moist snuff, chewing tobacco, and non-tobacco nicotine pouches. Click for detail

How have MEPs changed in their views about new nicotine products? (December 02, 2021)
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are due to vote on amendments to a report on Beating Cancer presented by the Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA) on 6th December 2021 which may set policy direction for the European Union over many years. Among the many areas in which the BECA has been active - including food, alcohol, and chemical materials - tobacco is one of the most important as it is identified as one of the areas which can contribute most significantly to reducing cancer rates. Within this, one of the main topics for debate will be the role played by new nicotine products and how their sale and use should be regulated. Click for detail

Harm reduction holds the key to finally overcoming tobacco (November 21, 2021)
The issue of tobacco harm reduction (THR) is not new in Europe, but now it has received support from an unlikely direction: German dentists. Several doctors associated with the University of Leipzig Medical Center and clinics in Cologne are calling for the integration of tobacco harm reduction strategies into dental care, citing the immediate health benefits that can be derived from stopping the use of combustible tobacco products. One dentist has even begun keeping novel nicotine products in his clinic to show them to patients struggling to kick conventional cigarettes. Click for detail

Are You Allowed to Vape in Public in the UK? Learn About the Vaping Policy Making in the UK (November 21, 2021)
Globally speaking, the United Kingdom has the most support rate on electronic cigarettes. In other words, in the UK e-cigarettes share the most prevalence among smokers, ex-smokers and those people who have need in nicotine. But how come? We can simply explain that: 1. e-cigarettes as an alternative of combustible tobacco can significantly reduce the harmful health issues that smoking causes Click for detail

WHO reports tobacco use falling - but the numbers show tobacco control failing, say experts (November 18, 2021)
The ninth Conference of the Parties (COP9) to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) concluded on Friday, with the status quo of international tobacco control proudly maintained by its host body, the World Health Organization (WHO). Held online, the majority of the virtual meeting was closed to the public and all but a handful of selected media representatives. Click for detail

The WHO Gambled Behind Closed Doors With 200 Million Lives (November 18, 2021)
Two United Nations Conferences of Parties (COP) took place last week-both with the ostensible goal of saving lives. But the contrast couldn't be starker. While COP 26 involved myriad relevant stakeholders and focused on transparency in seeking to address the climate crisis, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) COP 9, meant to address smoking-related harms, ended up once again being closed to the public, with any dissenting opinions excluded. Click for detail