The Finnish government has set an ambitious goal for residents in a bid to benefit their health -- and their bank balances. Officials plan to make the country tobacco-free by 2040, meaning they want less than 2% of their adults to consume tobacco -- in any form -- by that deadline. So that's more than 98% of the Finnish population saying no to cigarettes, snuff and other forms of smokeless tobacco, cigars, pipes and even e-cigarettes. As per the trend in industralized countries, smoking rates in Finland have been on the decline in recent decades due to measures such as bans on advertising and shop displays, and the creation of smoke-free public spaces. In 2013, 16% of 15- to 64-year-olds in Finland smoked on a daily basis, while nearby in the UK, 19% of adults were smokers in 2014. But at the start of this year, a new level of control measures came into force.
"The Finnish approach is revolutionary," said Kaari Paaso, head of the unit on harm prevention at the country's Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. "We want to get rid of all tobacco products."
Experts agree that the Finnish government is using innovation and creativity to get everyone to kick the habit. Rather than targeting one area at a time, such as exposure in public spaces or cigarette use, Paaso said his ministry wants to be precautionary from every angle. It doesn't go down the path of advocating milder products that may do less harm, such as e-cigarettes or snuff. "It's a comprehensive set of policies," he said.
The UK is also adopting a harm reduction approach to reduce the number of smokers. Instead of snus, it backs the use of e-cigarettes to help people kick the habit. But Finland wants rid of it all.
"We don't want to fall into the trap of other policies that have less harmful products," said Paaso, who fears that promoting other products will result in a new addiction for health officials to deal with in the future. "We want to phase out all products." And that phasing out has begun.
Source: CNN
i guess its achievable
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