Countries that ignore WHO advice show decline in smoking prevalence — expert

Countries that ignored the World Health Organization’s (WHO) advice to enforce prohibitionist policies have experienced the most dramatic decline in smoking prevalence when they adopted a tobacco harm reduction approach instead, international public health policy experts said. Prof. David Sweanor, chair of the advisory board of the Center for Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa, said smoking rates in countries such as Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Japan saw the biggest decline after these countries allowed the use of vapes, heated tobacco products, snus, and other smoke-free alternatives that are considered less harmful than conventional tobacco.