A new international survey commissioned by PMI reveals widespread public support for the role smoke-free alternatives can play in reducing the risk of harm to adults who would otherwise smoke.
The research, conducted by Povaddo in nine countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe, also highlights increasing concerns that public health measures are often influenced by ideology rather than evidence.
Despite the emerging data for the potential positive impact of smoke-free products on public health, current policies in many countries stand in the way of allowing legal-age adults who don’t quit to switch to scientifically substantiated better alternatives.
Today, more than 190 million adults who smoke—nearly one in five globally—still have no legal access to smoke-free products. Meanwhile, cigarettes remain widely available, even though they are the most harmful way to consume nicotine.
The findings highlighted in the survey include:
- 78 percent of respondents agree that adult smokers in all countries should have access to better alternatives to continued smoking
- Around 74 percent believe that encouraging people who smoke to switch to these products can help improve public health
- Nearly three-quarters are concerned that decisions are being made based on ideology and not science and facts
- Almost nine in 10 want governments to establish clear and fair regulations based on scientific evidence
- Six in 10 agree that banning or severely restricting the sale of less harmful alternatives, while cigarette sales remain legal, is wrong
These findings support PMI’s Progress Matters campaign, which demonstrates examples of the declining smoking rates in countries that have enabled adults who smoke to access smoke-free products and accurate information about them.
“Progress matters,” said Jacek Olczak, Chief Executive Officer of Philip Morris International.
“Countries that embrace smoke-free products have seen declines in cigarette sales and smoking rates.
There is strong demand globally for governments to adopt fact-based policies that keep pace with innovation and deliver better outcomes for society.”
Measuring the impact on public health
The survey underlines the demand for public health organizations to stop the selective sharing of available evidence on smoke-free alternatives, with 80 percent believing they have a responsibility to release all information.
And six in 10 agree that it is a public health failure that almost a third of the global population live in countries where smoke-free alternatives are banned.
- The survey also highlights support for Sweden’s progressive approach. Having long accepted snus as a better alternative to cigarettes, Sweden is now on the cusp of going smoke-free and has the lowest male death rate from lung and oral cancer in the EU1.
- Just over three-quarters of respondents outside Sweden think their country should follow Sweden’s approach to smoke-free alternatives
- More than eight in 10 legal-age smokers living in countries where all or some smoke-free products are banned would like the opportunity to purchase them legally
Sweden demonstrates that when adults who smoke have access to better alternatives, progress in public health follows.
Demand for positive change
The public is calling for better, science-based policies and for decision-makers to allow adults access to better alternatives to continued smoking.
Positive change is only possible when governments, public health officials, the private sector, and society at large unite with purpose toward a better future.
It’s time to accelerate progress for all adults who smoke. Access to better alternatives should be a global standard, not a privilege.
1 Male standardized lung and oral cancer rate in 2023 (Eurostat)