Category: Harm Reduction

  • Australia is guiding light

    Australia is guiding light

    Malaysia is keen to learn and employ tobacco-control strategies employed by Australia, according to a story in The New Straits Times.

    Speaking at the 69th session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in Brisbane, Malaysia’s Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr. S. Subramaniam congratulated Australia for significantly reducing smoking among its citizens.

    “The prevalence of smoking in Australia is only 11 per cent against Malaysia’s 23 per cent,” he said, while delivering a speech as the event’s outgoing chairperson.

    “We are very excited to see how Australia has managed to achieve this remarkable figure.

    “Close co-operation and exchange of views on the practices employed in the area of tobacco control will support other countries in the region to fight this major health issue.”

  • Call to ban cigarettes

    Call to ban cigarettes

    A leading Australian health researcher has called for a total ban on combustible cigarettes after a new study found that millions of deaths could be prevented if smokers switched to electronic cigarettes, according to a story by Melissa Cunningham for theage.com.au.

    Menzies School of Health researcher Dr. Marita Hefler says the rapid evolution of alternative nicotine products, such as e-cigarettes, meant outlawing combustible tobacco, including cigarettes, was now possible.

    “Any other consumer product that kills up to two-thirds of its long-term users remaining legal is unimaginable,” Hefler was quoted as saying.

    “Even if the political will had existed for a sales ban, until recently, no products could match the nicotine delivery efficiency of combustible tobacco with substantially less harm, rendering a sales ban a non-viable option due to the risk of a black market.”

    Hefler’s push comes in the wake of findings of a new study in the US which examined the health impacts of a large-scale switch from tobacco to e-cigarettes. The results of the study were reported here on October 3 under the heading Vaping a life saver.

    Cunningham’s story is at: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/top-doctor-calls-for-total-ban-on-cigarettes-switch-to-ecigarettes-20171002-gysrgt.html.

  • Vaping a life saver

    Up to 6.6 million US cigarette smokers will live substantially longer than they otherwise would if cigarette smoking is replaced by vaping over a 10-year period, according to a Medical Xpress story citing research published in the journal Tobacco Control.

    The study, by a research team led by investigators from the Georgetown Lombardi Cancer Center, Washington, DC, looked at a strategy of switching cigarette smokers to e-cigarette use in the US to accelerate tobacco control progress.

    The team considered an optimistic and a pessimistic scenario, ‘differing in terms of the relative harms of e-cigarettes compared with cigarettes and the impact on overall initiation, cessation and switching’.

    It found that, compared with the Status Quo, replacement of cigarette by e-cigarette use over a 10-year period yielded 6.6 million fewer premature deaths with 86.7 million fewer life years lost under the optimistic scenario. ‘Under the pessimistic scenario, 1.6 million premature deaths are averted with 20.8 million fewer life years lost,’ the team found. ‘The largest gains are among younger cohorts, with a 0.5 gain in average life expectancy projected for the age 15 years cohort in 2016.’

    The team said that the tobacco control community had been divided regarding the role of e-cigarettes in tobacco control.

    ‘Our projections show that a strategy of replacing cigarette smoking with vaping would yield substantial life year gains, even under pessimistic assumptions regarding cessation, initiation and relative harm.’

    The Medical Xpress story is at: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-10-years-life-smokers-e-cigarettes.html.

    The Tobacco Control report is at: http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2017/08/30/tobaccocontrol-2017-053759?papetoc=

  • PMI chief says goals aligned

    PMI chief says goals aligned

    The CEO of Philip Morris International, André Calantzopoulos, has told a grouping of health organizations that his company’s core strategy is not at odds with their demand that it stops selling cigarettes.

    In an open letter posted on the PMI website, Calantzopoulos said that he had recently received an open from 122 health organizations in which they had called on PMI to stop selling cigarettes; and to do so immediately.

    ‘In essence, the letter says that anything less than shutting down PMI’s cigarette business is “irresponsible” and “monstrous”,’ Calantzopoulos wrote.

    ‘In the interest of open discussion, I’ll take the letter’s demand at face value and assume that I could simply order PMI to stop its cigarette sales. What would that accomplish from the perspective of public health?  Would smoking prevalence change?

    ‘Globally, PMI has a market share of approximately 15 percent, which represents about 150 million men and women who smoke our cigarette brands. If those brands are suddenly unavailable, our competitors – both the lawful and the illicit ones – would quickly step in to meet demand. The supply would change, and there would be short-term turmoil on the market, but people would still smoke.

    ‘In short, there is no benefit to society for us to stop selling cigarettes from one day to the next. Nonetheless, and perhaps surprisingly, our core strategy is not at odds with the demands of your letter. Indeed, our paramount business strategy is to replace cigarettes with less-harmful, smoke-free alternatives. That’s what we call a smoke-free future, and it could mean that PMI will one day, ideally sooner rather than later, no longer be in the cigarette business.’

    The full text of the health organizations’ letter and the current list of signatories is at: https://www.unfairtobacco.org/en/open-letter-quitpmi/.

    The full text of Calantzopoulos’ letter is at: https://www.pmi.com/media-center/news/details/Index/open-letter-from-pmi.

  • Call to pay quitters

    Call to pay quitters

    Australia is being urged to invest in providing financial incentives for people to quit tobacco smoking.

    Despite some of the strictest tobacco control policies in the world, recent data shows the decline in smoking in Australia has stalled, according to a story on theconversation.com.

    “First-line” quitting strategies available in Australia, such as nicotine patches, are said to provide a success rate of about seven percent, or a failure rate of about 93 percent.

    Such a success rate, the story said, would not allow Australia to achieve its nine percent smoking-rate target by 2020, given that the rate stands at about 14 percent now.

    ‘With current approaches and policies adopted in Australia having arguably lost their edge, and with more controversial approaches such as e-cigarettes caught up in political quicksand, let’s invest in the strategies that do work,’ the story said.

    ‘One evidence-based approach that has not received much attention in Australia is using financial incentives. Incentives programs reward quitters for not smoking by giving them a monetary voucher.

    ‘The quitter’s abstinence is verified using biochemical tests of either their saliva, urine or breath.’

    The story said that financial incentive programs comprised one of the most effective and cost-effective strategies for getting people to quit.

    ‘They are considered the most effective strategy for pregnant smokers,’ it said.

    ‘They are also cost effective, with the calculated net benefit (after taking into account … the incentives used) being around A$4,300 per smoker, per attempt to quit.

    ‘There have been a number of studies showing their benefits.’

    The full story is at: https://theconversation.com/why-we-should-pay-people-to-stop-smoking-84058.

  • Threat of major lawsuit

    Threat of major lawsuit

    Suing ‘big tobacco’ for the costs of smoking-related illnesses in Australia is on the radar of an organization set up by billionaire iron ore magnate and philanthropist Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, according to a story by James Carmody, Kate Lambe and David Weber for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

    The $75-million Eliminate Cancer Initiative (ECI), funded by Mr Forrest and his wife Nicola, is said to be seeking legal advice on the potential to mount a case seeking billions of dollars in compensation from tobacco companies.

    ECI is quoted as saying that the potential litigation would likely be based on a landmark Canadian lawsuit where three tobacco companies were ordered to pay more than $15.6 billion in damages to smokers in Quebec.

    “What we do need to keep in mind is the impact and cost associated with those smokers who are now coming through the healthcare system,” ECI COO Bruce Mansfield said.

    “We do need to recognise that there is a cost associated with tobacco and therefore an approach that needs to be considered very sensibly is for those industries to actually take some of the burden away from the community and of course the government.”

    Mr Forrest said that to tackle cancer, smoking must also be tackled because it was the single-greatest cause of preventable death.

    The full story is at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-30/andrew-forrest-cancer-centre-to-take-on-tobacco-industry/9004204.

  • WHO says no to Foundation

    WHO says no to Foundation

    The World Health Organization has said that it will not engage with the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, the establishment of which was announced on September 13.

    The Foundation is led by Derek Yach, an anti-smoking crusader who, while working at the WHO, was the primary architect of that agency’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

    The Foundation has secured initial funding of about $80 million annually during the next 12 years, beginning in 2018, from Philip Morris International, but it expects to receive funding from other sources.

    In a note posted on its website, the WHO said the UN General Assembly had recognized a “fundamental conflict of interest between the tobacco industry and public health”.

    WHO member states, it added, had stated that “WHO does not engage with the tobacco industry or non-state actors that work to further the interests of the tobacco industry”. Who would therefore not engage with the new Foundation.

    WHO quoted Article 5.3 of the FCTC, saying that the guidelines for its implementation stated clearly that governments should limit interactions with the tobacco industry and avoid partnership. These guidelines were explicit in saying that governments should not accept financial or other contributions from the tobacco industry or those working to further its interests, such as this Foundation.

    WHO’s view is that strengthening implementation of the FCTC in relation to all tobacco products remained the most effective approach to tobacco control. Policies such as tobacco taxes, graphic warning labels, comprehensive bans on advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and offering help to quit tobacco use had been proven to reduce demand for tobacco products.

    ‘If PMI were truly committed to a smoke-free world, the company would support these policies,’ the WHO said. ‘Instead, PMI opposes them. PMI engages in large scale lobbying and prolonged and expensive litigation against evidence-based tobacco control policies such as those found in the WHO FCTC and WHO’s MPOWER tobacco control, which assists in implementation of the WHO FCTC.’

    WHO admitted that there were many unanswered questions about tobacco harm reduction, but it said the research needed to answer these questions should not be funded by tobacco companies. The tobacco industry and its front groups had misled the public about the risks associated with other tobacco products. ‘This includes promoting so-called light and mild tobacco products as an alternative to quitting, while being fully aware that those products were not less harmful to health,’ the WHO said. ‘Such misleading conduct continues today with companies, including PMI, marketing tobacco products in ways that misleadingly suggest that some tobacco products are less harmful than others.’

    This decades-long history meant that research and advocacy funded by tobacco companies and their front groups could not be accepted at face value. ‘When it comes to the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, there are a number of clear conflicts of interest involved with a tobacco company funding a purported health foundation, particularly if it promotes sale of tobacco and other products found in that company’s brand portfolio,’ the WHO said. ‘WHO will not partner with the Foundation. Governments should not partner with the Foundation and the public health community should follow this lead.’

    The full WHO statement is at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2017/philip-morris-foundation/en/.

  • Support for tobacco control

    Support for tobacco control

    The British government’s Department of Health is committing £15 million to bolster international support for a tobacco control project in Sri Lanka, which is believed to have the world’s highest rate of oral cancer among men, according to an EconomyNext story.

    The new project will promote accelerated implementation of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in low- and middle-income countries, with Sri Lanka one of 15 priority countries.

    The British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka James Dauris said 60 countries had applied for support from the WHO.

    ‘Priority countries weren’t selected on the basis only of need, but also on level of commitment,’ he said in a statement.

    Tobacco use was one of the principal causes of oral cancer and in Sri Lanka oral cancer was the most common form of male cancer, Dauris said.

    “I understand that Sri Lanka is the only country in the world where this is so,’ he added.  “This alone is a good argument for investing in change.”

    Evidence from around the world confirmed that measures that reduced the burden of tobacco-related death and disease, freed-up money and resources that could be spent and invested in more productive ways.

  • PMI reorganizes

    PMI reorganizes

    Philip Morris International yesterday said yesterday that it was making organizational changes intended to drive the company’s transformation toward a smoke-free future while maintaining its financial performance.

    “There is no doubt that the greatest contribution PMI can make to society is to replace cigarettes with less harmful alternatives,” said CEO André Calantzopoulos.  “The changes we are announcing today [September 28] reflect our desire to best equip, empower and support our organization as we transform within a rapidly evolving environment.

    “They reflect the exceptional quality and depth of our senior leadership and underscore our commitment to successfully deliver solutions not only for our consumers, employees and shareholders, but also to society in general.”

    Effective January 1, 2018: Calantzopoulos will continue to serve as CEO; Jacek Olczak, currently CFO, will be appointed COO, responsible for the deployment of global strategy and the delivery of results for combustible and reduced-risk products; and Martin King, currently president, Asia Region, will be appointed CFO.

    PMI said also that it would in future arrange its operations in six geographic regions, rather than four, as is the case now.

    The full list of the organizational changes and the biographies of those involved are available on the PMI website.

  • IQOS pops up in London

    IQOS pops up in London

    The launch of a third IQOS store in London, England, marks a further development in Philip Morris’ pledge to convert 100,000 UK smokers to this heated tobacco product, and to reach its goal of a smoke free future for the UK, according to a press note issued by PM Limited UK & Ireland.

    Yesterday, the company opened an IQOS store in Shoreditch, London, at Boxpark, which is said to be the world’s first pop-up mall.

    This follows the launch of the brand’s first UK store in Soho, London, which opened in December, and its second store, which opened in Westfield, London, earlier this month.

    PM said the new store was Boxpark’s first vaping pop up, and that its opening reflected the increasing numbers of people looking for alternatives to traditional cigarettes.

    ‘The new East London store marks a further development in the brand’s pledge to convert 100,000 UK smokers to its heated tobacco product, IQOS, and to reach its goal of a smoke free future for the UK, where cigarettes are no longer sold,’ the company said.

    ‘This pledge is part of PMI’s [Philip Morris International’s] global commitment to offer smokers a range of alternative smoke free products for those that cannot completely quit (which is always the best option). Building its future on this vision, PMI has invested over £3bn into research to develop a broad portfolio of potentially reduced risk products, which includes IQOS and its unique heat not burn technology.

    ‘The Boxpark IQOS store, which will be open seven days a week, will offer a bespoke in-store experience for customers. In the store, adult smokers will be given guided trials by trained IQOS staff to educate them about how the heated tobacco product works and discuss how they can switch to IQOS. Customers will also have the chance to customise their IQOS device at the store’s personalisation station, which will be a unique offering for customers visiting the Boxpark store.

    ‘Designed by international creative agency Avantgarde, the Boxpark store is minimalistic with an all-white interior and a lightly coloured stone floor. Intelligent design details such as mirrors, hidden drawers and back lighting create space within the store for a sleek and modern finish.’

    “This is a significant development in IQOS’s retail expansion in the UK and we are delighted that the Boxpark team has recognised the unique retail experience our IQOS store will bring,” said Peter Nixon, MD of Philip Morris Limited UK & Ireland.

    “Our first store which launched in December of last year has seen a significant response from customers and we are thrilled to be bringing IQOS to East London as part of our growing retail expansion.”