The bill with the new ANDTS strategy to the Riksdag by March 23rd

The ANDTS strategy is the government's strategy for alcohol, drugs, doping, tobacco and gambling.

When Tobaksfakta interviews Magnus Jonsson, the internal preparation of the upcoming strategy is underway, which includes several ministries and units within the Government Offices.

–All departments with their different interests will support the final product, so it's a bit of exciting work ahead, he says.

The bill, which includes the new strategy, must be submitted to the Riksdag no later than March 23. This means that there will be a few months without any valid ANDT strategy, but that was also the case last time, he says.

–There will be a little gap there. Everything is tough, and when the strategy is decided, it will provide guidance for efforts from both the government and other actors, he says.

Secret content

Magnus Jonsson does not want to say what the proposal, which is now being prepared internally, contains.

“You have to wait until the strategy is decided,” he says, laughing.

However, the topics that emerge in the public debate can be expected to receive greater space in the strategy, according to him. The drug issue is currently relevant, along with gang crime. Tobacco has also sailed up the agenda now in times of pandemic.

–The tobacco issue is of course always relevant and lives on, and this year in particular it has come up in a context we could not have foreseen. But the fact that smoking has been decreasing for many years is absolutely gratifying, he says.

The Public Health Agency has national coordination responsibility for the strategy and has made suggestions for what could be included.

– We are looking at their proposals, including continuing towards the goal of Tobacco Endgame – Smoke-Free Sweden 2025, which the government has decided on, he says.

What will be included in the new strategy is not yet clear, but it must include preparedness for unexpected events.

“The strategy should be broad and flexible enough to adapt to current circumstances. It shouldn't be too much of a to-do list,” he says.

Clarifying measures for Tobacco Endgame

Tobaksfakta's chairman Göran Boëthius says that Tobaksfakta has tried to clarify the arguments for what is required for the government to reach the 2025 target during the autumn in contacts with the Public Health Agency.

–It is necessary that the measures of the tobacco convention are implemented in Swedish legislation. It also requires that the current inquiry into a “coherent regulation of all tobacco products” really be sufficiently comprehensive and not just deliver cosmetic marketing proposals. The tobacco industry's focus on new nicotine products shows that we must consider nicotine and nicotine addiction as the common factor to combat in all continued tobacco regulation, he says in a comment.

In a letter to the Ministry of Health and Welfare in December 2020, Tobacco Facts proposed measures that should be included in the new ANDTS strategy with developed reasoning as to why.

Eleven departments with views

Magnus Jonsson has been working on the ANDTS strategy for just over a year. Eleven ministries are more or less involved in the work.

–All ministries except the Ministry of Defense are involved in some way, and have views and suggestions on the text, but the focus is on the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance.

Over the past year, he has listened to and spoken with around 20 relevant authorities and around 40 organizations to capture, for example, questions about what has worked well with the current strategy and what can be improved.

This spring, four hearings were held on the topics of prevention, accessibility, care and support, and organization and governance.

Budget 95,6 million for 2021

What is clear is that the budget for ANDT measures in 2021 is SEK 95,6 million.

“Towards the end of the strategy period, the funding is reduced, then it is a matter of evaluating, summarizing and phasing out,” he says.

The sum is also not an absolute limit.

– It is the money available in the appropriation that finances efforts within ANDT and gambling prevention, but then you can connect the measures with other issues, he says.

Read more about the ANDT strategy for 2016–2020 on the Swedish Public Health Agency's website.

Read the Public Health Agency's evaluation of the current strategy.