A recent report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on global tobacco use has urged governments to step up efforts to help smokers quit, but has failed to acknowledge the law reform required to bring Australia in line with developed countries around the world who have provided a less harmful alternative for adult smokers who don’t quit smoking.
Philip Morris Australia has today said that by encouraging governments to double down on efforts to help men and women who smoke quit, the WHO takes an admirable stance. But the reality is that even with the best treatments available today, many people will not succeed. In Australia, around 3 million people continue to smoke despite many different measures being put in place to deter them.
Philip Morris Australia Managing Director, Tammy Chan, said: “There is no question that the best choice is never to start using cigarettes or nicotine-containing products or if someone has, they should quit altogether.”
“However, the WHO report, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, misses a critical scientific point: it is the burning of tobacco that produces the vast majority of the harmful chemicals that cause smoking-related diseases, not tobacco itself. Hundreds of millions of men and women who don’t quit stand to gain the most from less harmful alternatives to cigarettes,” Ms Chan said.
“In Australia, official statistics show that despite some of the world’s strictest tobacco control measures, the smoking rate has remained relatively similar since 2014[1].”
“One method that has proven to be successful in reducing smoking rates is the availability of smoke-free products, such as e-cigarettes or heated tobacco products, that do not burn and produce smoke, reducing exposure to harmful chemicals by up to 95 per cent when compared to cigarettes,” Ms Chan said.
“Unfortunately, Australians are not given that option as Australia is the only OECD country other than Turkey that effectively prohibits the sale of these products. It’s time the Australian government legalised smoke-free products to give adult smokers a less harmful alternative to cigarettes.
Dr. Moira Gilchrist, Vice President of Strategic and Scientific Communications, Philip Morris International, said: “The WHO is perfectly situated to encourage independent research and provide science-based recommendations to smokers. Instead they seem to be closing down dialogue on promising alternatives to continued smoking, choosing instead to focus solely on pharmaceutical industry products.”
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, outlines in his own vision statement that “under my leadership an enhanced and independent WHO will take a science-led and innovation-based approach that is results-oriented and responsive, maximises inclusive partnerships, and ensures collective priority setting with all stakeholders.”[2]
Ms Chan said: “One has to ask, why does the WHO not apply these same principles to tobacco control? And why doesn’t the Australian government provide adult smokers who don’t quit smoking a scientifically substantiated less harmful alternative?”
“We remain committed to having an open and transparent dialogue based on science,” said Ms Chan.
“We cannot change the past, but we can change the future for the 1 billion people around the world and the 3 million Australians who continue to smoke.”
