Question time

The CEO of Philip Morris International popped up in London yesterday.

The subject of Jacek Olczak’s breakfast briefing in Westminster was ‘the impact of inaction when it comes to addressing smoking rates worldwide’.

The exact location was the new and rather splendid UnHerd Club, a short stroll from Parliament Square and the Palace of Westminster.

I stumbled upon it last month because it’s almost directly opposite Policy Exchange where public health minister Neil O’Brien unveiled the Government’s new tobacco control policies.

Guests at the UnHerd Club yesterday included journalists from the Daily Mail and Financial Times, but I know that only because the individuals concerned were tweeting from the event.

(Photos suggested there were 15-20 people in the room.)

Forest wasn’t invited, sadly, so I had to follow Olczak’s somewhat predictable comments on Twitter.

However, after posting a series of tweets (ten in total over 15 minutes), the @InsidePMI Twitter account suddenly went quiet, which was odd because the last tweet finished with this invitation:

We're open for your questions, ask below ⬇️

I didn’t need a second invitation so I quickly sent the following:

Tobacco harm reduction is an honourable goal and giving consumers a choice of reduced risks products is the right thing to do, but why won’t you also stand up for adults who know the health risks yet enjoy smoking and don’t want to quit? Do their rights no longer matter to you?

That was at 9:28 yesterday and 24 hours later we’re still waiting for a response.

It’s not as if they were overwhelmed with questions on Twitter either. Apart from ours, there was just one other, posted at 20:09 last night.

So why invite questions and then not answer or even acknowledge a perfectly reasonable query? Seriously, why bother?

Update: I’ve just discovered that ‘Impact of Inaction’ was also a LinkedIn online event. (Wish I’d known.)

Lots of supportive comments from around the world (albeit many of the ‘Hi all’ variety) but only two or three actual questions, including:

Can you just stop selling cigarettes?

Answer:

Discontinuing cigarette sales without addressing the demand for cigarettes would not put an end to smoking. It simply would result in competitors and the illicit trade filling the market space. We are fully committed to doing all we can to ensure that #smokefree products that are scientifically substantiated to be less harmful replace cigarettes as soon as possible.

And:

What is the approach or actions PMI is taking VS the countries that deny the benefit of RRP products?

Answer:

Great question, Farid. Our responsibility is to deliver a #smokefree future by investing in better alternatives for adults who would otherwise continue smoking. But we are asking regulators around the world to take urgent action to explore how best to reduce smoking rates faster. A successful strategy should focus on the scientific data and enable access to and accurate information about smoke-free alternatives. Only a more open-minded approach which complements existing tobacco control measures with tobacco harm reduction can accelerate an end to cigarettes.

I won’t hold my breath but perhaps they could now answer my question.

Update: You can read PMI’s press release here:

”Cigarettes belong in museums,” says Philip Morris International CEO in speech in London (Business Wire)

Comments

[Pat Nurse]

Perhaps next time ASH slanders Forest as a mouthpiece for the tobacco industry you could give this example of how, actually, companies such as Philip Morris treat you as a pariah. Big Tobacco has become more of a mouthpiece of the anti smoker industry and has no time for organisations that support the rights of tobacco consumers who are treated as third class citizens because they do not want to quit or switch in what is supposed to be a free and fair country.

The future is vaping due to the large growth of new child and teen vapers to replace us former child and teen smokers as customers but there is no guarantee that over a lifetime, the effects on health of heavy vaping will be much better than heavy smoking despite the propaganda. PMI isn't thinking about that. It simply wants the profits from what it sees as a new and lucrative market.