The World Health Organization (WHO) was asked to accept harm reduction as an effective method in tobacco control, saying this will help prevent millions of deaths annually.

French oncologist Dr. David Khayat said the WHO should shift toward pragmatic solutions, adding that current strategies proved ineffective, with more than a billion people continuing to smoke.

Speaking to Cypriot newspaper Phileleftheros, Khayat said traditional anti-smoking policies failed to reduce the 1 billion global smokers that existed between 1990 and 2019.

Khaya said transitioning smokers to smoke-free alternatives could lower cancer risk. He said these smoke-free technologies give the user the satisfaction that a smoker feels, but the percentage of harmful and carcinogenic substances that reach their body is dramatically reduced.

He cited scientific studies showing that the number and concentration of substances produced from smoking are related to high temperatures that occur during combustion.

Khayat said alternative smoke-free methods could reduce the body’s exposure to carcinogens, and this is part of the harm reduction strategies in tobacco control.

Nicotine not the culprit

Anton Israel, president of the Nicotine Consumers Union of the Philippines, said this proves that smoking, not nicotine, is the primary issue of diseases such as lung cancer.

“We have achieved new smoke-free technologies that remove the harm from nicotine consumption. Products such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches reduce consumers’ exposure to carcinogens substantially,” Israel said.

“If we look closely at the statistics, we will find that in the coming years, we will have 60 million deaths worldwide due to lung cancer. Let’s do something to prevent that,” Khayat said.

He said nicotine does not cause cancer, as carcinogens come from the burning of tobacco. The combustion, which occurs in conventional cigarettes, produces thousands of substances. A percentage of these are carcinogenic.

Khayat said heated tobacco and vaping devices deliver nicotine with significantly reduced harmful substances compared to traditional cigarettes.

Khayat also warned that obesity may soon surpass smoking as a leading cancer risk factor.

Khayat said harm reduction, as seen in the United Kingdom, acknowledges the difficulty of eliminating risky behaviors and aims to mitigate their effects.