Interview with Gregoire Verdeaux, Senior Vice President External Affairs, Philip Morris International
[/P]What is the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the way people make health and lifestyle choices?
During the pandemic we witnessed a contradictory trend between what we might call "accelerated science" , which was openly and publicly discussed, and what looked like a surge of skepticism about the vaccine and science. If we have learned one lesson from this pandemic, it is that for science and innovation to prevail, they must be backed up by dialogue. Health recommendations need to be explained; people are asking questions that need to be answered. The role that the media have to play is crucial. It is undeniable that all people need to make health and lifestyle choices based on science and evidence. But there is no one button you can push to make that happen. Different groups of people have different views, different degrees of willingness to change and different levels of education. Being blind to these differences creates the risk that health recommendations will be ignored, misinterpreted or implemented to a lesser or greater extent than they should be.
This is something we face on a daily basis at PMI because of the company's commitment to ending cigarettes and offering better alternatives to smokers. Some smokers quickly saw the opportunity presented to them and gave up cigarettes to switch to these products. But for many others it is more complicated to follow this path. This will require everyone - from policy makers to ordinary citizens - to appreciate the value of solutions over outdated dogma. We need the support of policymakers and the public health community to work with industry to accelerate the end of cigarettes. We believe that with the right regulatory environment, the support of civil society and confidence in science, we can end cigarette sales within the next 10 to 15 years. This is something worthwhile.
How can science and new technologies help us address the current public health challenges relevant to your industry?
The combination of harm reduction as a principle of policy making, together with technological innovation, is the reality of our time. See for example what is happening with electric cars. They transport people like their petrol-powered predecessors, but they do significantly less damage to the environment in terms of emissions produced during the same journey. Some will argue that the most economical trip of all is the one you don't make, and that's true in theory. Efforts should focus on reducing the harm caused.
This applies absolutely to tobacco products. People should not smoke. And, after nearly 2 decades of enforcing smoking restriction measures, everyone knows that smoking is harmful. Nevertheless, 1 billion people around the world continue to smoke. All adult smokers who have not managed to quit smoking should have information and access to better, science-based alternatives to cigarettes. It is important to emphasise that as a company we support governments in their efforts to discourage initiation and encourage cessation. We know, however, that in reality a proportion of people will continue to smoke. It is at this point that we propose a harm reduction approach.
You often talk about the help you need, in terms of the regulatory framework, to achieve a tobacco-free future. What policies are you referring to?
We know, first of all, which strategy should not be adopted: prohibition. In theory, it is not difficult to adopt a law making cigarettes illegal. It happened in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic and, within days, organised crime filled the gap created by selling illegal cigarettes. Prohibition always leads to the same result: the illegal wins. Therefore, the regulatory framework for tobacco products should continue to prevent people from taking up smoking and encourage cessation. It should, however, take proportional account of the relative risk of each product and follow a common sense approach: The most harmful product, cigarettes, should be subject to the most stringent regulatory framework. For those smokers who continue to smoke regardless of the encouragement to quit, there should be affordable , acceptable and better alternatives to cigarettes.
We are well aware that this places high expectations on governments. Most laws on tobacco products date back to a time when alternatives had not yet been invented. So it takes courage to innovate. Greece, in this respect, is truly a world leader. Unfortunately, many countries are lagging behind and continue to follow a conservative approach - meanwhile smoking rates are remaining stable instead of decreasing.
What is the role of your Greek subsidiary, Papastratos, in PMI's global business strategy for a world without cigarette smoke?
PMI is making huge progress to become, by 2025, a predominantly smoke-free company, meaning that the majority of net revenues come from combustion-free products. A milestone we have already achieved in 10 countries. As far as Greece is concerned, by the end of 2021, 65% of our total net revenues will come from combustion-free alternatives.
Greece had one of the highest rates of cigarette consumption in Europe, with no visible prospect of improvement. Since 2016, with the introduction of tobacco heating products and, shortly afterwards, with Papastratos, one of the leading employers in Greece, converting its factory into a dedicated production centre for heated tobacco sticks instead of cigarettes, the number of adult smokers in Greece who have made informed choices by switching to IQOS and quitting smoking has continued to increase. Today, there are more than 360,000 IQOS users in the country.
Source: To Vima
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