New Delhi, October 28, 2025: A significant public health initiative in Saudi Arabia is making global headlines for its ambitious and successful strategy to help one million smokers quit, prompting a critical examination of India’s lagging tobacco cessation efforts. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF)-backed company Badael has rapidly scaled up its efforts using its flagship product, DZRT—a tobacco-free nicotine pouch—as a safer alternative for smoking cessation. Launched in 2023, the initiative has already helped nearly 400,000 smokers’ transition away from cigarettes, with 140,000 reportedly quitting nicotine altogether — a striking success that brings Saudi Arabia closer to its ambitious goal of becoming tobacco-free by 2030.
Bangladesh has publicly lauded this move, recognizing how harm-reduction-based alternatives could complement traditional tobacco control methods. The Saudi experience, grounded in science and public acceptance, stands out for prioritizing support over stigma, offering smokers a cleaner, regulated path to quit.
Dr. Saurabh Tomar, Pulmonologist, Associate Consultant in the Department of Respiratory & Sleep Medicine, Aakash Hospital, Dwarka, New Delhi, observes, “Saudi Arabia’s approach is a step in the right direction — focusing on support and providing choices. By introducing regulated, safer nicotine alternatives, they are giving people real options. This is not about promoting nicotine; it’s about reducing harm and saving lives. In contrast, India — home to over 100 million smokers and 267 million tobacco users — continues to face one of the world’s heaviest tobacco burdens. Despite decades of awareness campaigns and stringent tobacco control laws, smoking cessation success rates remain around 2%, according to recent national health surveys. Perhaps exploring evidence-based harm reduction and cessation alternatives could help more people quit successfully.”
India, the world’s second-largest consumer of tobacco products after China, faces a uniquely complex tobacco problem, dominated by the use of cheap, traditional forms like bidis and smokeless tobacco, alongside cigarettes. Despite stringent laws, and high taxation, the quit rate remains alarmingly low, with unassisted cessation reported to be particularly slow. The massive health and economic burden—estimated at over ₹1.7 lakh crore annually—demands a multi-pronged, urgent response that addresses the core issue of nicotine addiction without the combustion of tobacco.
Dr. Moonish Agarwal, Senior Consultant, Dept., of Medicine, Mata Chanan Devi Hospital, New Delhi, asserts, “India’s tobacco crisis demands a balanced regulatory framework that embraces harm reduction, not just restriction – much like Saudi’s evidence-led nicotine pouch rollout. With viable measures like nicotine pouches showing 5-fold higher quit rates via NRT and behavioural therapy, we must integrate these into NTCP to protect India’s 100 million smokers from needless suffering.”
Countries across Europe and Asia, including Japan, South Korea, the UK, and now Saudi Arabia, are witnessing sharp declines in smoking rates after introducing such harm-reduction products. Research from these nations indicates up to 70–90% reduction in exposure to toxicants compared with traditional cigarettes.
Saudi Arabia’s example shows that culturally conservative nations can embrace modern, evidence-driven solutions without compromising values. For India, where the cost of inaction is measured in millions of preventable deaths, the message is clear — it’s time to rethink, reform, and rebuild a stronger national quit strategy.
