Brussels’ Heart Problem: The EU’s Cardiovascular Plan Misses the Point

The European Commission says it wants to “improve cardiovascular health across Europe.”

That sounds great, until you read the fine print.

Behind the lofty language and glossy public health slides, the Commission is quietly drafting a plan that could classify pouches, yes, tobacco-free, smoke-free products that help people quit smoking, as cardiovascular risk factors.

That’s not science. That’s ideology with a Brussels accent.

What’s Going On

The EU Cardiovascular Health Plan, expected later this year, aims to tackle Europe’s biggest killer: heart disease.

But instead of focusing on what actually causes it, smoking, poor diet, lack of exercise, the Commission seems more interested in punishing people for quitting.

Early drafts show that less harmful products, including pouches, could be listed alongside smoking and alcohol as “risk factors.”

Let’s be clear:

• Pouches contain no tobacco,
  
• produce no smoke,
  
• and release none of the combustion chemicals (like carbon monoxide or tar) that damage the cardiovascular system.
  

In other words, the very tools that are helping Europeans quit smoking are being lumped in with the problem itself.

Mitä tiede todella sanoo

Multiple peer-reviewed studies confirm that nicotine in isolation does not cause long-term cardiovascular disease in healthy users.

In fact, nicotine replacement therapies (NRT), patches, gums, and sprays, are regularly prescribed to cardiac patients. If nicotine itself were dangerous for the heart, doctors would be committing malpractice.

A 2025 study by Fucito et al. found that using pouches did not significantly elevate blood pressure or heart rate compared to baseline levels. The study also noted that participants who switched from smoking to pouches experienced reduced exposure to harmful combustion-related toxins and reported fewer cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptoms, clear indicators that these products support cardiovascular and overall health improvement when replacing smoking.

So when the Commission equates pouches with smoking, it’s not following science.

It’s rewriting it.

Sweden: The Proof That Works

If Brussels needs a case study, it should look north.

Sweden, the only EU country where oral less harmful alternatives are widely available, now boasts:

• 5.6% päivittäinen tupakointi, the lowest in Europe,
  
• 44% fewer tobacco-related deaths,
  
• 44% lower overall cancer incidence, ja
  
• the lowest lung cancer rates on the continent.
  

Even more striking: Sweden’s rates of heart disease and stroke are also lower than those of its neighbors.

That’s not a coincidence. That’s harm reduction in action.

Jos muu Eurooppa seuraisi Ruotsin mallia, over 3.5 million premature deaths could be prevented in the next decade.

The Real Risk: Policy Failure

If Brussels goes ahead and classifies pouches as a “cardiovascular risk,” it will:

• Ignore scientific consensus,
  
• Undermine public health progress,
  
• Push smokers away from safer alternatives, and
  
• Protect the cigarette market instead of dismantling it.
  

This isn’t a “health plan.” It’s a regulatory heart attack in slow motion.

Viestimme Brysselille

The path to better cardiovascular health isn’t banning or over-taxing the products that help people quit.

It’s trusting adults with choices, embracing science, ja supporting harm reduction, not fear reduction.

Pouches aren’t the enemy. They’re part of the solution. Europe’s heart doesn’t need more paperwork. It needs courage, science, and common sense.