{"id":6304,"date":"2025-06-17T02:40:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T06:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/?p=6304"},"modified":"2025-06-17T02:40:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T06:40:08","slug":"wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\/","title":{"rendered":"WVA: EPSCO Should Learn from Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Greece"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels, 17 June 2025<\/strong> \u2013 The World Vapers\u2019 Alliance (WVA) has issued an open letter<\/a> to European health ministers ahead of this week\u2019s EPSCO Council meeting, discussing the future of tobacco and nicotine policy. The letter urges decision-makers to prioritise harm reduction and ensure adult smokers have access to safer alternatives such as vaping and nicotine pouches.<\/p>\n

Countries like Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Greece are leading the way in harm reduction and provide a model for the rest of Europe. Sweden is on the verge of becoming the first smoke-free country in Europe. Greece has achieved a dramatic six percentage point drop in smoking prevalence, while Czechia has recorded a seven percentage point reduction in smoking rates between the most recent Eurobarometer surveys.<\/p>\n

Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers\u2019 Alliance, stated:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe relentless attacks on vaping and other nicotine products must stop. These products are the solution, not the problem. The evidence from Sweden, Czechia, and Greece is clear: embracing harm reduction saves lives and accelerates progress towards a smoke-free future. It\u2019s time for every European country to follow these success stories.\u201d
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Alberto G\u00f3mez Hern\u00e1ndez, Policy and Advocacy Manager for the WVA, added:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe evidence is overwhelming: harm reduction works. Sweden, Czechia, and Greece have shown this. These countries support safer nicotine products through harm reduction strategies and have succeeded. European leaders have a real chance to end smoking. The path is clear. Now policymakers must act.\u201d
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

The open letter highlights the importance of evidence-based regulation and warns against policies that could inadvertently increase smoking rates by limiting adult access to vaping and other reduced-risk products. The WVA stresses that consumer choice, backed by robust science, is essential for achieving a smoke-free Europe.<\/p>\n

The full open letter can be found here: https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Open-letter-ahead-of-EPSCO-meeting.pdf<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brussels, 17 June 2025 \u2013 The World Vapers\u2019 Alliance (WVA) has issued an open letter to European health ministers ahead of this week\u2019s EPSCO Council meeting, discussing the future of tobacco and nicotine policy. The letter urges decision-makers to prioritise harm reduction and ensure adult smokers have access to safer alternatives such as vaping and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":3245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"yoast_head":"\nWVA: EPSCO Should Learn from Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Greece - World Vapers' Alliance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WVA: EPSCO Should Learn from Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Greece - World Vapers' Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Brussels, 17 June 2025 \u2013 The World Vapers\u2019 Alliance (WVA) has issued an open letter to European health ministers ahead of this week\u2019s EPSCO Council meeting, discussing the future of tobacco and nicotine policy. The letter urges decision-makers to prioritise harm reduction and ensure adult smokers have access to safer alternatives such as vaping and […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World Vapers' Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-17T06:40:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"4162\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"3840\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"World Vapers' Alliance\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"World Vapers' Alliance\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"World Vapers' Alliance\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/18484a6f20bcc6f70a2419c8babe017d\"},\"headline\":\"WVA: EPSCO Should Learn from Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Greece\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-17T06:40:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":312,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Press Releases\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\\\/\",\"name\":\"WVA: EPSCO Should Learn from Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Greece - World Vapers' Alliance\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-17T06:40:08+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png\",\"width\":4162,\"height\":3840},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"World Vapers' Alliance\",\"description\":\"The largest community of vapers\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"World Vapers' Alliance\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/WVA_RB_Fist_G.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/WVA_RB_Fist_G.png\",\"width\":985,\"height\":1177,\"caption\":\"World Vapers' Alliance\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/18484a6f20bcc6f70a2419c8babe017d\",\"name\":\"World Vapers' Alliance\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/456bf795c7a47c9ac527a94da4bff150aa49e48726d69bee9937f8383cffa246?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/456bf795c7a47c9ac527a94da4bff150aa49e48726d69bee9937f8383cffa246?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/456bf795c7a47c9ac527a94da4bff150aa49e48726d69bee9937f8383cffa246?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"World Vapers' Alliance\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/en_gb\\\/author\\\/wva\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"WVA: EPSCO Should Learn from Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Greece - World Vapers' Alliance","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"WVA: EPSCO Should Learn from Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Greece - World Vapers' Alliance","og_description":"Brussels, 17 June 2025 \u2013 The World Vapers\u2019 Alliance (WVA) has issued an open letter to European health ministers ahead of this week\u2019s EPSCO Council meeting, discussing the future of tobacco and nicotine policy. The letter urges decision-makers to prioritise harm reduction and ensure adult smokers have access to safer alternatives such as vaping and […]","og_url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\/","og_site_name":"World Vapers' Alliance","article_published_time":"2025-06-17T06:40:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":4162,"height":3840,"url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"World Vapers' Alliance","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"World Vapers' Alliance","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\/"},"author":{"name":"World Vapers' Alliance","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/18484a6f20bcc6f70a2419c8babe017d"},"headline":"WVA: EPSCO Should Learn from Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Greece","datePublished":"2025-06-17T06:40:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\/"},"wordCount":312,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png","articleSection":["Press Releases"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\/","url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\/","name":"WVA: EPSCO Should Learn from Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Greece - World Vapers' Alliance","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png","datePublished":"2025-06-17T06:40:08+00:00","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wva-epsco-should-learn-from-sweden-the-czech-republic-and-greece\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png","width":4162,"height":3840},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/","name":"World Vapers' Alliance","description":"The largest community of vapers","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#organization","name":"World Vapers' Alliance","url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/WVA_RB_Fist_G.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/WVA_RB_Fist_G.png","width":985,"height":1177,"caption":"World Vapers' Alliance"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/18484a6f20bcc6f70a2419c8babe017d","name":"World Vapers' Alliance","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/456bf795c7a47c9ac527a94da4bff150aa49e48726d69bee9937f8383cffa246?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/456bf795c7a47c9ac527a94da4bff150aa49e48726d69bee9937f8383cffa246?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/456bf795c7a47c9ac527a94da4bff150aa49e48726d69bee9937f8383cffa246?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"World Vapers' Alliance"},"url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/author\/wva\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}