“This correlation indicates that when e-cigarette uptake among adult smokers increases, traditional cigarette smoking goes down,” said Du as quoted by the Khaleej Times. “When we look at countries such as the UK, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and many others, we can clearly see an upwards pattern of e-cigarette adoption versus a decline in traditional cigarettes use.”
He highlighted that this consumption pattern is in line with RELX’s objective of shifting adult smokers away from the more harmful combustible tobacco use to a scientifically proven safer alternative. “Harm reduction is a tested approach that was adopted across several industries long before tobacco. It is as simple as encouraging populations to leave harmful habits behind, in favour of better and less harmful ones.”
The principle of Tobacco Harm Reduction
“Harm reduction, as a principle, depends on two factors which must coincide: products having a lower risk profile, and adult smokers mass adopting them,” Du explained. “That way only we can fulfil the potential that e-cigarettes hold in terms of complementing public health policies by supporting adult smokers’ switching attempts to better alternatives.”
RELX, is one of the biggest manufacturers, distributors and sellers of vaping products in China, comes as local concerns about teen vaping are starting to increase. In September 2021 the brand launched in Saudi Arabia.
Commenting on the launch in Saudi, Fouad Barakat, the local general manager at RELX International, explained the financial logic behind the move. “The MENA region is one of our category’s fastest-growing markets, growing at a rate just short of 10 percent until 2024. Saudi Arabia is one of the region’s largest and most prosperous markets, hence the need for any brand to launch there if it wants to thrive and grow bigger.”
