July 31, 2025
Global Action Community Newsletter
My job as a family medicine physician is to partner with my patients so we can work together to improve and maintain their health. A big part of that requires seeing them as individuals with unique needs—and not as problems to solve using a generic solution.
I talk to all my patients about the harms of combustible tobacco. They are made aware of the long-term dangers of smoking, including the risks of developing multiple types of cancer, cardiovascular disease, emphysema, and depressed immune systems. Of my patients who do smoke, most want to quit—but struggle with the physical and social components of addiction to nicotine.
When individuals tell me that they haven’t been able to quit smoking, it’s my responsibility to help them identify new avenues they haven’t explored yet. For some patients, that may mean trying multiple nicotine replacement therapies, or incorporating cognitive behavior therapy into their existing treatment.
But for others, even those solutions won’t work—and that’s where tobacco harm reduction comes in.
Tobacco harm reduction means helping people who smoke reduce their risk of disease and death by switching to less harmful alternatives, like electronic cigarettes or nicotine pouches.
Submit a question on the latest quitting research, and we may answer it in an upcoming newsletter.
The science is clear: the vast majority of harm from smoking comes from burning tobacco, not from nicotine itself. That means if someone switches from cigarettes to a smoke-free nicotine product, they’re dramatically reducing their exposure to the toxins that cause lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease, and more.
It’s not a no-risk solution. Nicotine is an addictive substance. I make it clear to my patients who don’t use nicotine that they shouldn’t start in any form. But any time one of my patients can move away from combustible cigarettes, we celebrate it as a win. Together, we’re taking steps to reduce their long-term risks and lengthen their lives.
Unfortunately, harm reduction remains widely misunderstood by many persons in the medical community. Most physicians receive very brief training on smoking cessation, let alone education on the full spectrum of harm reduction tools. Too often, people who smoke feel shamed by their health care providers for failed quit attempts, and their providers run out of ideas of how to help them.
It’s clear to me that the approach public health has embraced over the last 50 years to lower smoking rates won’t be enough to reach our remaining patients who struggle with cigarette use. To end the global smoking epidemic, health care providers must learn about all the options for our patients who smoke—including those that allow them to continue using nicotine through less damaging products. If the end-point is smoking cessation, then the journey begins with providing resources that make a tangible impact.
All my best,
Dr. Keasha Guerrier
Family Medicine Practitioner
Board Member, New York State Academy of Family Physicians
By the Numbers
12
The number of cancers you can reduce your chance of developing by quitting smoking.
According to research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, quitting smoking reduces your risk of cancers of the lungs, liver, stomach, mouth, kidney, and several others.
Get to know our grantees
“Thanks to Global Action’s support, we have been able to scale our mission for sure, because over the past five years we helped more than 1,000 smokers to quit smoking.”
—Daniela Saitta, Chief Project Director of Global Action grantee ECLAT
Tobacco and health around the world
Country snapshot: Denmark
In 2022,16.2% of the Danish population used tobacco, with smoking rates nearly equal between men and women. Tobacco use was the leading cause of death and disability in Denmark.
- In 2022, tobacco was responsible for 34.1% of all deaths in Denmark. In an effort to control and limit the sale of tobacco, the country has implemented high taxation and plain packaging.
- In 2019, 22% of Danish youth ages 15 to 16 years old were current cigarette smokers.
- Demand for cigarettes per capita reduced by 28% in Denmark from 67 packs in 2002 to 48 packs in 2021.
For references and to view other country profiles, visit our pages on Tobacco and Health Around the World.
Thank you for your support
Global Action is proud to take bold action to find global solutions to end death and disease caused by tobacco, particularly combustible cigarettes. We are one of the only public health groups to embrace tobacco harm reduction as a means of meeting adults who smoke where they are, showing them empathy and respect in their individual cessation journeys, and helping them—if they cannot or will not quit—to reduce their risks of death or disease from combustible cigarettes.
Your support increases the impact our grantees’ work can have on this cause. Together, we can build a future where no one suffers from tobacco-related disease.
Thank you for your support in the fight against smoking.
Get to Know Global Action
Global Action has awarded more than 175 grants to institutions that support the work of over 100 scientists, covering 46 countries on four continents.
Our organization is an independent, U.S. nonprofit 501(c)(3) grantmaking organization whose mission is to end combustible tobacco use, which remains the leading preventable cause of death globally. Through September 2023, Global Action received charitable gifts from PMI Global Services Inc. Global Action does not seek or accept funding from companies that produce tobacco or non-medicinal nicotine products.
To learn more about our work, visit our website.
Disclaimer: This newsletter does not provide medical advice. The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained in this newsletter are for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute providing medical advice or professional services. No material in this newsletter is intended to be a substitute for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease. Those seeking personal medical advice should consult with a licensed physician or other qualified health care provider. Always seek the advice of your licensed physician or other qualified health care provider regarding a medical condition or with any questions you may have regarding treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you read in this newsletter. No physician-patient relationship is created by this newsletter. Global Action doesn’t make representations, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.