Quit Like Sweden Launch | 10 April 2024

About the Launch:

On 10 April Quit Like Sweden was officially launched in Brasilia, firing the starting pistol for a ground-breaking campaign to encourage and enable countries around the world to emulate Sweden’s success at eradicating smoking.

Together with DIRETA, THR Brasil, We Are Innovation, PAHRA, and Smoke Free Sweden, Quit Like Sweden rallied international experts to lend their support whenever and wherever reducing smoking rates is on the agenda. Participants included international public health experts, politicians, doctors, and consumer champions.

About Quit Like Sweden:

Under the leadership of harm reduction advocate Suely Castro, Quit Like Sweden will serve as a central platform for all stakeholders, spanning policymakers, governments, NGOs, and the media, to delve into the intricacies of the “Swedish Experience”. This initiative seeks to illuminate how Sweden attained its unparalleled success and empower stakeholders to pursue similar strategies within their own nations.

Sweden stands before the imminent achievement of becoming the world’s first smoke-free nation. Through a progressive and comprehensive approach to tobacco control, it has seamlessly integrated smoking cessation and prevention measures with policies that offer viable alternatives to smokers. This approach holds the potential to save millions of lives globally if embraced by other countries.

Program:

Session 1 – Launch of Quit Like Sweden

Suely Castro formally launched Quit Like Sweden in the first session. Afterwards, Swedish MP Jesper Skalberg Karlsson provided a lively discussion of THR policy with Senator Soraya Thronicke and Federico Fernandez, Director at We Are Innovation. Miguel Okumura from THR Brasil and Alexandro Lucian from DIRETA then gave their experience of the impact of misinformation and accessibility issues on Brazilians.

Session 2 – Life saving potential

In the second session, a panel of experts discussed the Swedish Experience’s life-saving potential for Brazil. Speakers included Dr Delon Human, a former adviser to the WHO Director-General and to the UN Secretary-General on global public health strategies; he was joined Dr Anders Milton, former chair of the World Medical Association; and Prof. Dr. Erika Magalhaes Suzigan, Coordinator of the Medicine Course at the University of Santo Amaro.

Session 3 – Public health policymaking

The afternoon began with an international panel of experts, who discussed public health policymaking. Dr Roberto Sussman, founder and director at Pro-Vapeo Mexico, was joined by Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos, research fellow at the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center in Athens; Dr Christopher Russell, a behavioural psychologist and director of Russell Burnett Research & Consultancy in Glasgow; David Sweanor, chair of the advisory committee of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics, at the University of Ottawa; and Dr Marewa Glover, director of Centre of Research Excellence: Indigenous Sovereignty & Smoking in Auckland.

Session 4 – “How Sweden Quit Smoking” documentary screening

The sessions ended with a screening of “How Sweden Quit Smoking”, which went into the heart of Sweden’s ground-breaking journey to become a smoke-free country. Guided by the incisive lens of Polish director Tomasz Agencki, the documentary assembled a rich pallet of voices – from scholars and medical doctors to innovators and activists, even resonating through the evocative expressions of artists.

The screening was followed by a final panel discussion including Dr Anders Milton, We Are Innovation Director Federico Fernandez, and Dr.Jorge Costa e Silva, President of the Brazilian brain institute (INBRACER) and former Director of the World Health Organization (WHO – Geneva).