Philip Morris International (PMI), a leading tobacco company committed to designing a smoke-free future, marked this year’s “World No Tobacco Day” with a call to recognise the day as “World No Smoking Day”.
World No Tobacco Day is observed around the world every year on 31 May. It is intended to encourage a 24-hour period of abstinence from all forms of tobacco consumption around the globe.
But PMI is of the view that people who smoke and those who love them deserve the opportunity to learn about smoke-free alternatives to cigarettes.
This, it says, is because despite the well-known health risks associated with smoking, many people continue to smoke.
The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that there will be more than 1 billion people who smoke in 2025, about the same number as today. Their best choice would be to quit – but many don’t. It makes sense that these men and women should have access to and information about less-harmful alternatives to cigarettes. It is on the basis of this that PMI is calling for an additional, bold approach to public health.
“For people who will otherwise continue to smoke, WHO is in the perfect position to drive switching from cigarettes to sensible alternatives. A policy that informs people about those alternatives – in essence, a World No Smoking Day – would reduce smoking prevalence to a far greater extent and at a much faster rate than the existing suite of tobacco-control measures alone,” said André Calantzopoulos, PMI’s chief executive officer.
“People who smoke deserve a sensible plan that takes full account of better alternatives to cigarettes. For our part, we’re determined to deliver a smoke-free future through innovations that stand up to scientific scrutiny and that meet consumer needs,” Calantzopoulos said.
Available information says PMI has already committed $4.5 billion in supporting a team of 400 world-class scientists, engineers and technicians who have spent years creating and testing a range of smoke-free products that offer a much better choice for the millions of smokers who don’t quit. More than 5 million smokers worldwide have already completely abandoned cigarette smoking and switched to IQOS, PMI’s heated tobacco product, with 10,000 smokers switching every single day.
But PMI is not the only company pursuing innovation as important to the world’s 1 billion smokers worldwide – the tobacco industry generally is beginning to move in this direction, to the benefit of men and women who smoke.
“Our short-term ambition is that one out of three of our consumers, 40 million men and women who smoke, will have switched to better alternatives by 2025. Ultimately, we want to be in a position to stop selling cigarettes entirely. However, we need the support of governments and the public health community to make this happen in as short a time as possible. I believe that instead of just designating one day as World No Tobacco Day, we should promote every day as World No Smoking Day,” said Calantzopoulos.
PMI is proposing that governments and authorities investigate thoroughly how scientifically substantiated smoke-free products can be used as a complementary public health strategy alongside smoking prevention and cessation. It believes that with appropriate government control and oversight, these products can have a meaningful and positive impact on public health.
