Tobacco continues to affect the entire planet. According to the World Health Organization , the number of smokers is estimated at 1.1 billion smokers in 2025 if recent trends continue. The WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control , during its tenth Conference of the Parties , is currently examining in Panama the implementation of tobacco control with the 183 member countries of the Convention.Cigarette smoking is spreading even more in middle- and low-income countries.
Based on the human right to health in Article 12, the international law supports a harm reduction approach to tobacco control. By analyzing the right to health as an inalienable right, countries must prioritize the promotion of treatments and products most likely to reduce harm among those who are least able to control their own health behaviors. Harm reduction may then involve the use of new, supposedly less harmful tobacco products.
Indeed, the FCTC emphasizes policy and legislative approaches, but offers little direct help to smokers to overcome their addiction through cessation or harm reduction. From punitive taxation to outright bans, FCTC promotes only a prohibitionist approach without giving any choice to the most affected, the consumers.
Critics fear that any legitimization of these new products"sends the wrong message" about the best way to reduce harm which the only way for them is: quit smoking. Furthermore, critics warn that introducing a new form of nicotine consumption may be attractive to minors and may act as a gateway to conventional cigarettes and encourage former smokers to return to addiction.