UK first to embrace tobacco harm reduction

[Bill Godshall]

In an historic first for public health, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) of the UK's National Health Service overwhelmingly approved tobacco harm reduction as a key component in England's ten year plan to reduce cigarette smoking by half.

The US FDA and health agencies of other countries should follow the UK's lead, which can be further improved by including e-cigarettes and smokefree tobacco products.

The announcement and a news excerpt are below, and the full report "A Smokefree Future" is at http://www.dh.gov.uk/dr_consum_dh/gr.../dh_111748.pdf

Bill Godshall
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Citizens Council vote in favour of harm reduction in smoking

Citizens Council vote in favour of harm reduction in smoking

The Citizens Council, a group which brings the views of the public to NICE’s decision-making, has voted overwhelmingly in favour of the use of harm reduction as a way to reduce the dangers of smoking.

The 30 members of the Citizens Council met in October last year for three days to discuss the pros and cons of harm reduction. Whereas smoking cessation aims to help smokers quit smoking and break their reliance on nicotine completely, the idea of harm reduction involves reducing the harm associated with cigarettes for smokers who find it too hard to quit. This could include replacing cigarettes with a clean form of nicotine, or with cigarettes which intend to deliver lower levels of toxins.

Overall, the Citizens Council supported the use of harm reduction in smoking but the idea of considering harm reduction as a way to provide a less harmful alternative to smoking - while accepting that nicotine addiction continues - proved relatively unpopular.

Sir Michael Rawlins, Chair of NICE, said: “The concept of harm reduction conflicts with traditional smoking cessation as it does not necessarily seek to help people stop smoking altogether, nor does it treat nicotine addiction. What would this approach mean for the goal of having a smoke free society?

“The Citizens Council’s view will help guide our independent advisory committees, should they be required in the future to make recommendations about harm reduction in smoking.”

The findings from the Citizens Council come as the Department of Health launches a Tobacco Control Strategy for England which aims to halve the number of smokers, from 21 to 10 per cent of the population by 2020.
This latest strategy, A Smokefree Future, builds on the previous 1998 strategy and sets out to ensure that every smoker will be able to get help from the NHS to suit them if they want to give up. This includes introducing new approaches to reducing smoking such as harm reduction.
The Department of Health will also work with NICE to encourage alignment of the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), so as to encourage more smokers to use the NHS Stop Smoking Services.

The 30 members of the public that make up the Citizens Council are drawn from all walks of life, and provide NICE with insights into the public's views on challenging issues that often involve values such as fairness and need.
It meets twice a year and reports directly to NICE's Board. Its recommendations inform a wide programme of work. When the Council was set up in 2002 it was the UK’s first advisory body made up entirely of members of the public.

The public is now invited to comment on the Citizens Council members’ views on the use of harm reduction in smoking, before the report is presented to the NICE Board. The report on the Council’s views is available for public comment, at www.nice.org.uk . Comments must be sent in by 5pm on Wednesday, 31 March 2010.
see this link
1 February 2010
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Shift in status for anti-smoking aids

By Nicholas Timmins, Public Policy Editor
Financial Times
February 1 2010
FT.com / UK / Politics & policy - Shift in status for anti-smoking aids

A major shift in the government’s anti-smoking policy has been quietly announced, allowing nicotine products to be sold as a long-term substitute for smoking, not just as an aid to quitting.

The announcement acknowledges that some smokers are nicotine junkies, who find it close to impossible to give up the addictive element in cigarettes.
(excerpt)

[Bill Godshall]

Per my note above, it would be helful if e-cigarette users (especially those in England) submit comments to the UK NHS (weblink provided above) applauding its embrace of tobacco harm reduction, and urging the inclusion of e-cigarettes and smokefree tobacco products. Comments are being accepted till March 31.

[Bill Godshall]

Not sure why/how my posting above is formatted off the page, and don't know how to fix it.

[edit]
Was a mega-long URL crashing the page, Bill - fixed
Chris

[River]

Finally, a victory for common sense.

I don't even have a real problem with being labeled as "nicotine junkies" since in this case it just looks like the last desperate gasp from the old guard who still believe they can shame people into quitting by playing the I'm morally superior to you card while they still can.

Congratulations to the UK on making this a public health issue as opposed to a morality issue.

[syndicate2083]

Wow this is awesome.

A much better approach in my opinion. Make it "safe", and "clean" and whats the problem?

[SmokeyJoe]

Hey Bill,

Thanks for posting this - it's fantastic news!

By the way, I'm not seeing any formatting issues with your post....

SJ

[catlvr]

Wow great news! Thank you Mr. Godshall. Made my day! It's nice to hear something that actually makes sense for a change.

[harmony gardens]

This is indeed great news! So in exchange for them calling me a nicotine junkie, they will approve harm reduction,,, I can live with that.

What they don't seem to get is that ecigs are smokeless, and therefore are 100% compatable with the goal of a smokeless society. That's for another council or some other anti smoking group to figure out.

[Vicks Vap-oh-Yeah]

They're getting 'smokeless' mixed up with 'nicotine-less', and, realistically, what is all the furor raised about us being 'nicotine junkies' anyway?

It's a vice - the thing that we know we could be better people without, but have chosen to ignore the (insert doom and gloom message here).

People of all walks, from the squeeky clean moralist to the filthy drunk sleeping under an onramp, have vices. It's part of the human condition. There are sex addicts, alcohol addicts, people addicted to caffine, chocolate, fat, sugar, salt, bananas, and small stuffed animals.... let us HAVE our small comforts in this life, and we'll let you have yours!

Ooooo - someone help me down from this soapbox now

And Bill - the reason your post is askew up there is because a URL you posted can't be broken up into 2 lines....no worries.

[Janetda]

This is great news! I hope policymakers in the US and other countries will follow UK's lead.