New Delhi, April 7: The French Ministry of Health has updated its official position on smokeless tobacco products following a recent report by the French Agency for Food Safety, Environment, and Occupational Health (ANSES). After reviewing more than 2,500 scientific publications, the agency concluded that while smokeless tobacco products are not risk-free, their harm levels are considerably lower than those of conventional cigarettes. For India, this development merits careful consideration within the country's broader public health context.
The central finding from ANSES rests on a straightforward but important distinction- smokeless tobacco products do not burn and therefore do not produce smoke. It is combustion that generates more than 7,000 toxic chemicals found in cigarette smoke, including aldehydes that damage the respiratory system. By eliminating combustion, these products remove the primary driver of smoking-related disease.
ANSES was careful in its assessment. The long-term risks of smokeless products are characterised as 'likely' rather than conclusively proven, simply because long-term data does not yet exist in the way it does for cigarettes. But decades of research have firmly established the devastating effects of conventional cigarettes, and that asymmetry in evidence itself is significant.
Beyond France, a nationwide South Korean study published in the European Journal of Cardiology found that among heart disease patients who switched completely to smokeless tobacco, the reduction in major cardiovascular risk was equivalent to quitting smoking entirely. Researchers attributed this to the absence of tar and carbon monoxide, substances that directly damage blood vessels.
Several countries are quietly moving away from blanket prohibition and towards what public health experts call harm reduction, meeting smokers where they are, rather than where policymakers wish they were.
The United Kingdom launched its "Swap to Stop" programme in 2023, distributing smokeless tobacco product kits alongside behavioural support to help smokers transition. Since its launch, approximately 125,000 people have attempted to quit cigarettes through the programme.
Dr. Vera Buss, Senior Research Fellow in Behavioural Sciences at University College London, noted that people using smokeless tobacco products are about 50% more likely to successfully quit smoking compared to those using other nicotine-replacement therapies.
Japan, one of the world's largest heated tobacco markets, has tracked what happens when smokers switch, and the data on relapse is striking. The rate of returning to cigarettes after switching to smokeless products stands at just 0.5-1%, with no upward trend. In South Korea, heated tobacco products captured 10.6% of the tobacco market by 2020, and survey data showed that 99.4% of users were current or former smokers, not new initiates.
India has made remarkable strides in tobacco control over the decades, driven by a genuine commitment to protecting public health and the well-being of its citizens. The government's efforts from strong pictorial warnings to robust public awareness campaigns reflect a consistent and caring approach to reducing tobacco-related harm. However, tobacco-related illness does remain a concern that the government takes seriously, and continued dialogue around evolving regulatory frameworks is both natural and necessary. As the global landscape changes, there may be an opportunity for a thoughtful, evidence-based review of how these products are regulated, distinct from conventional cigarettes.
The French findings are not an isolated opinion. Countries like France, the UK, Japan, Germany and the United States have refined it using scientific evaluation to distinguish between product categories and regulate accordingly. Harm reduction does not mean harm acceptance. It means acknowledging that for millions of dependent smokers, an intermediate step towards cessation is more realistic than an immediate one. (ANI)
