French oncologist David Khayat said modern smoking alternatives can help improve public health by reducing smokers’ exposure to cancer-causing substances.
Khayat cited studies showing that the number and concentration of harmful substances from smoking are linked to high temperatures during combustion.
“If all smokers who do not quit smoking realize that there are better alternative options than cigarettes, and more people make the change, ‘then we will gradually see the effects on public health,'” he said.
He said smoke-free technologies provide the satisfaction of smoking, but with a significantly reduced percentage of harmful and carcinogenic substances.
Khayat described alternative smoke-free methods as part of harm reduction strategies in tobacco control.
Anton Israel, president of the Nicotine Consumers Union of the Philippines, said this demonstrated that smoking, not nicotine, is the primary cause of diseases like 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.
Khayat, quoted in the Cypriot newspaper Phileleftheros, said traditional anti-smoking policies were ineffective, noting the steady 1 billion global smokers between 1990 and 2019. He said transitioning smokers to smoke-free alternatives could lower cancer risk.
“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 in conventional cigarettes produces thousands of substances, a percentage of which are carcinogenic.
Khayat said heated tobacco and vaping devices deliver nicotine with significantly reduced harmful substances compared to traditional cigarettes.
He criticized the World Health Organization’s (WHO) stance against harm reduction, suggesting a shift toward pragmatic solutions. Khayat also warned that obesity may soon surpass smoking as a leading cancer risk factor.
Khayat said harm reduction, as implemented in the United Kingdom, acknowledges the difficulty of eliminating risky behaviors and aims to mitigate their effects.
He said more than 64 percent of people who smoke and develop cancer do not quit. “That’s why what I do and recommend now for those who don’t quit smoking is to try to reduce the harm it causes. This could potentially be achieved through alternative smoking products,” Khayat said.
Khayat cited the potential of alternative products to help smokers switch from cigarettes, urging regulatory frameworks that balance access for smokers with preventing youth uptake.
“The goal remains smoking cessation. But because there will always be some who do not quit, we must include harm reduction in our efforts. The fewer carcinogens that enter the human body, the smaller the harm,” Khayat said.
As global discussions on tobacco control intensify, tobacco harm reduction is expected to be a key topic at the upcoming WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Conference of the Parties (COP 11) in Geneva in November.
Advocates hope policymakers will consider real-world evidence on the benefits of reduced-risk products rather than imposing broad restrictions that could hinder smokers from accessing safer alternatives.