Another success of the Swedish model? The Stockholm government announced that in 2016, the proportion of smokers among men aged 30 to 44 fell below 5%, a threshold defined by several health actors as marking the end of the tobacco war.
SNUS, A RISK REDUCTION TOOL THAT IS PROVEN!
Whether this is the end or not, Sweden is in any case the first to reach this target, which is also aimed at by governments like Canada and Ireland. The Canadian target predicts that the smoking rate for the general population should reach 5% by 2035.
In Sweden, among all Swedish men, only 8% smoke at least once a day compared to an average of 25% in the European Union (EU). Women are at 10%. According to the World Health Organization, the death rate from lung cancer in Sweden is less than half that in the EU.
Part of this decline is attributable to snus: a wet tobacco powder that is placed between the gum and the upper lip for a period of minutes to hours. Snus is consumed mainly in Sweden and Norway where it has gradually replaced cigarettes.
At the point where an anti-smoking organization, the Alliance for a New Nicotine, wants to force the EU through the courts to lift its moratorium on the distribution of snus outside of Sweden. The moratorium is however justified by the fact that snus is not entirely harmless: it is attributed carcinogenic properties, although at a lower level than the cigarette.
Source : Pieuvre.ca
