On June 6, Czech Ministry of Health spokesman Andre Jakob said that the Czech Republic will abandon the "abstinence policy" that has been implemented for many years, and instead use the EU's tobacco harm reduction policy as part of its future public health strategy. Among them, electronic cigarettes are an important part of the strategy and will be recommended to smokers who are difficult to quit smoking.

Previously, the Czech Republic had formulated a national strategy for the "Prevention and Reduction of Addictive Behavior Damage 2019-2027", which was directly managed by the highest government office. During this period, the Czech Republic adopted a strategy of "one ban to the end" in the control and resolution of addictive behaviors such as tobacco and alcohol: through various regulations, "asceticism" was pursued, and a complete smoke-free society was expected to be realized in the future.

However, the results were not ideal. Experts in the Czech drug field said: "Many countries and governments have declared that they will achieve a nicotine-free and smoke-free society in a certain year. The Czech Republic has also formulated similar indicators before, but this is very unrealistic, and the number of smokers is not at all. Down. So we need to take a new path."

As a result, in the past two years, the Czech Republic has turned to the implementation of harm reduction strategies, and received the support of Czech Health Minister Vlastimir Valek. Under this framework, tobacco substitutes represented by e-cigarettes have received much attention.

Considering the potential impact of e-cigarettes on the youth group, the Czech government is also considering more specific e-cigarette regulatory measures. Jacob specifically proposed that future e-cigarette products should not only cover up unpleasant tastes in taste, but also abide by the principle of harm reduction and limit the use of minors.

Valek also believes that a policy of pushing everyone to quit smoking is an extreme and hypocritical approach. The solution to the addiction problem cannot rely on over-restriction, "returning everything to zero", nor by leaving addicted smokers into a helpless situation. The best way should be to eliminate the risks as much as possible and reduce the negative effects on young people. influences. Therefore, recommending smokers to use harm reduction products such as e-cigarettes would be the most reasonable means.

Relevant persons from the Czech government pointed out that relevant data from the United Kingdom and Sweden show that the harm reduction of e-cigarettes is beyond doubt, and the promotion of tobacco substitutes such as e-cigarettes can significantly reduce the incidence of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases caused by smoking. However, few countries other than the governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom have adopted the same policies to reduce public health risks, but still promote the idea of being completely smoke-free in a number of years, which is completely unrealistic.

It is said that on the agenda of the upcoming Czech presidency of the European Council, the Czech Ministry of Health plans to use the harm reduction policy as the main publicity item. This means that the Czech Republic may become the biggest advocate of the EU's harm reduction policy, profoundly influencing the direction of the EU's health policy in the next few years, and the harm reduction concept and policy will also be promoted on a larger international stage.