Heated Tobacco as Part Japan’s Successful Smoking Reduction Model

Safer nicotine alternatives have entered the Japanese market in 2014, dropping the local smoking rate by nearly a third in a span of three to four years.

Diane Caruana

September 1, 2021

“Although there is mixed evidence, data from the 2019 National Health Survey indicates that 76% of consumers who use Heated Tobacco Products do so exclusively.”

Vice director of the AOI Universal Hospital in Kawasaki, Kumamaru Hiroya, said that nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs), such as nicotine patches, have not yielded the desired results. However, since Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs) were launched locally, smoking rates started dropping substantially.

“In conclusion, after nicotine replacement therapy direction has been tried, they were not really a big success. However, ever since 2014, three heated tobacco products have been launched officially nationwide in Japan and these have been penetrating 25 percent [of total smoking population] and this product has been successful to reduce cigarette smoking in Japan so far by 30 percent in three to four years,” said Hiroya during a recent webinar.

Study: Heated Tobacco Products drop cigarettes sales by 34%

Reflecting his arguments, a recent paper by Frost & Sullivan in collaboration with tobacco company Philip Morris International (PMI) titled, “Tobacco Harm Reduction and Novel Nicotine and Tobacco Products: Evidence from the Japanese Market,” has found that the entry of HTPs has led to a drop of 34% in cigarettes sales.

“The commercial availability of HTPs in Japan is associated with a significant drop in conventional cigarette sales, well ahead of the previous rate of decline. Moreover, even after Heated Tobacco Products became available, sales of all tobacco products (Heated Tobacco Products and conventional cigarettes) continued to fall. Although there is mixed evidence, data from the 2019 National Health Survey indicates that 76% of consumers who use Heated Tobacco do so exclusively. Only 24% of HTPs users maintain dual-use,” said Mark Dougan, Consulting Director, Healthcare, Frost & Sullivan.

“The Japanese government is differentiating HTPs from conventional cigarettes in regulations such as taxation, health warnings and indoor use restrictions, with Heated Tobacco Products generally receiving less-stringent regulatory settings than conventional cigarettes,” he added.

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