A critical need for information on new tobacco and nicotine products
In recent years, in response to the decline in the consumption of traditional cigarettes around the world, manufacturers bring new tobacco products to market (heated tobacco, snus) or nicotine (nicotine pearls and sachets) to attract new consumers and thus guarantee their profits.
Faced with the recent arrival of these new devices on the market, general practitioners feel helpless: more than 9 out of 10 practitioners say they do not feel well informed about these products. Although a large majority of health professionals are aware that new tobacco products are just as dangerous as a traditional cigarette (92% for heated tobacco and 87% for snus), the lack of knowledge about new products nicotine can bias the perception of their dangerousness: nearly 4 in 10 doctors perceive nicotine beads and sachets as cessation tools (respectively 45% and 38%). A preconceived idea which, far from being based on scientific evidence, emanates directly from the misleading discourse of the tobacco industry.
Even though it is young people who are above all the target of these productsthrough aggressive marketing strategies on the part of manufacturers (packaging, flavors, media coverage on social networks, etc.), only 20% of general practitioners specifically address this issue with their minor patients. Being on the front line, these health professionals have a real role to play since we know that the earlier a brain is exposed to nicotine, the higher the risk of addiction.
In order to stem dependence on these new products, it is urgent to provide tools to health professionals: more than 90% of general practitioners say they are poorly informed to support their patients in weaning of addiction to the nicotine contained in these new products.
