Experts urge EU to back science-led harm reduction ahead of COP11

The International Association on Smoking Control and Harm Reduction (SCOHRE) has called on European policymakers and World Health Organisation delegates to “prioritise science over ideology” as they prepare for next month’s COP11 conference of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in Geneva.

The association warned that the EU’s emerging draft position – which emphasises prohibition, restrictions, and higher taxes on alternative nicotine products – risks conflating harm reduction with industry interference and could ultimately undermine public health goals.

SCOHRE president Professor Ignatios Ikonomidis said Europe should lead with proportionate, evidence-based regulation that distinguishes between combustible tobacco and smoke-free alternatives.

“Policies that treat all nicotine products as equally harmful risk reversing hard-won public health gains,” he said.

The organisation’s recently adopted Consensus Statement on Tobacco Harm Reduction reaffirmed the role of harm reduction as a core principle of modern public health, complementary to prevention and cessation. SCOHRE is calling for balanced regulation, adult access to reduced-risk products, and accurate communication of relative risks to consumers.

Professor Andrzej Fal, SCOHRE board member and president of the Polish Society of Public Health, said a one-size-fits-all approach would fail to reflect real-world evidence.

“Evidence from Sweden and other European countries shows that embracing harm reduction leads to lower smoking rates and longer life expectancy. Ignoring this will have lasting consequences for public health and consumer trust,” he said.

SCOHRE’s evaluation of EU measures points to Sweden’s success in reducing smoking prevalence to just 5 per cent – the lowest in Europe – largely through the transition from cigarettes to low-risk oral tobacco such as snus.

David T. Sweanor, board member and chair of the advisory board at the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics, criticised policies that discourage smokers from switching to safer alternatives.

“Efforts to protect cigarettes by discouraging substitution with lower-risk alternatives are an atrocious policy with totally foreseeable harm,” he said. “Consumers respond to science and economics, not ideology. The EU has the chance to get this right, by aligning its policies with evidence, not fear.”

SCOHRE has urged the EU and WHO to ensure that COP11 discussions reflect the growing body of scientific evidence supporting tobacco harm reduction. The group called for constructive engagement between regulators, scientists and consumers to shape policies that protect youth, respect adult choice, and reduce smoking-related disease and death across Europe.

SCOHRE is an international scientific association of independent experts on smoking control and harm reduction, who seek an open and constructive dialogue to help come up with a new approach to smoking control policies.