“Until now in Italy we have had an ideological approach and we have not wanted to address the issue of harm reduction. Our objective must be to get as many people as possible to not smoke or to quit, but we must give correct information to those who are unable to quit with guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and the Higher Institute of Health on the possible alternatives that can lead to a reduction in harm.” This was stated by Luciano Ciocchetti (FdI), vice-president of the XII Social Affairs Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, on the occasion of the presentation of the survey on consumers, Italian doctors and innovative combustion-free products, carried out by the Piepoli Institute in collaboration with the Consumers' Association Adiconsum and commissioned by Philip Morris Italia.
“An ideological approach leads us to ban everything – added Ciocchetti – without having the courage to face the problem in terms of information, training, scientific studies. What we managed to do was put grim images on cigarette packets, instead of giving information on alternatives to traditional cigarettes. It is time to move away from this ideological logic, providing information on the risks, training doctors, especially general practitioners, and offering appropriate alternatives to those who want to quit”.
Regarding the work of the commission, Ciocchetti explained: “The hearings on the European plan to fight cancer were held in the XII commission. As a commission we can insert a document referring to this reasoning, to a better relationship with the authorities and scientific societies so that those who do not want to stop become aware of harm reduction. This is a path to work on by engaging Government and scientific associations to develop alternative strategies for information and training of doctors and consumers on this topic. There is no unity of intent between the parties but I hope there can be a commitment towards the Government, because prohibitionism – he concluded – is not the solution to the problem”.
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