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Philip Morris lobbying to stop WHO ‘attack’ on vapes and similar products
Philip Morris International (PMI), the tobacco and vaping company behind Marlboro cigarettes, is waging a big lobbying campaign to prevent countries from cracking down on vapes and similar products as part of a global treaty, a leaked email reveals.
The company, which has been increasingly focusing on smoke-free products as governments tighten regulations on cigarettes, made $10.19bn (£8.3bn) in revenues from products such as heated tobacco and electronic cigarettes in 2022.
In a message sent by the PMI’s senior vice-president of external affairs last month and seen by the Guardian, staff were told to find “any connection, any lead, whether political or technical” before a meeting of delegates from 182 countries. He described the agenda for the meeting of the World Health Organization as a “prohibitionist attack” on smoke-free products.
There is growing scrutiny of vaping products, with ministers in the UK taking the first step towards banning candy-coloured disposable e-cigarettes in England. A consultation has been launched on plans to crack down on vaping by young people and ban smoking altogether, to create the first “smoke-free generation”. The health secretary, Steve Barclay, said this month he was concerned about figures that showed the number of children who vaped had tripled in the past three years.
The WHO framework convention on tobacco control (FCTC), which takes place next month in Panama, will discuss possible regulation, including taxation, on smoke-free products.
The email sent on 22 September by Grégoire Verdeaux, the senior vice-president of external affairs at PMI, said: “The agenda and meeting documents have been made public for the main part. Unfortunately they reconfirmed every concern we had that this conference may remain as the biggest missed opportunity ever in tobacco control’s history … WHO’s agenda is nothing short of a systematic, methodical, prohibitionist attack on smoke-free products.”
Without “reasonable, constructive outcomes”, Verdeaux wrote, the “WHO will have irreversibly compromised the historic opportunity for public health presented by the recognition that smoke-free products, appropriately regulated, can accelerate the decline of smoking rates faster than tobacco control combined”.
Tobacco companies are not invited to the event and Verdeaux said despite this he would be in Panama “to publicly denounce the absurdity of being excluded from it while PMI today” was “undoubtedly the most helpful private partner WHO could have in the fight against smoking”. He ended the email: “Whatever happens we are on the right side of history. But it will be a small comfort if we let prohibitionists have it their way.”
Source: The Guardian, 13 October 2023
See also: Government consultation Press release: Government sets out next steps to create ‘smokefree generation’
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Lung cancer: Woman once paid in cigarettes welcomes screening
Smoking was normalised from a young age for Julie Williams. At 14, she was paid in cigarettes to do her mum's ironing.
The 67-year-old's former habit meant she was invited to be one of the first in Wales to have a lung health check, to detect early signs of cancer.
But screening in Wales lags behind the developments being made in England, according to one charity.
The Welsh government said it was considering how a programme could be delivered.
The charity Tenovus has helped to fund a pilot for 500 patients to be screened in one area, north Rhondda.
People aged between 60-74 who used to smoke, or still do, have been invited for a CT scan.
Currently screening is only done to detect breast, bowel and cervical cancers in Wales, but last year the UK National Screening Committee recommended targeted lung cancer screening.
In England a commitment has been made to reach 40% of the population by 2025, and 100% by 2030.
In July, Welsh Health Minister Eluned Morgan said the recommendation had been "accepted in principle" and the Welsh government was considering how that could be delivered.
Dr Sinan Eccles, a respiratory consultant at Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board and clinical lead for lung health checks for the Wales Cancer Network, said the cost effectiveness of screening had been proven.
The pilot will help to determine how the NHS should deliver them and could potentially detect between five and 15 cases of cancer, out of the 500 people scanned.
Cases across Wales have fallen over the last 20 years and survival rates have improved, but Cwm Taf Morgannwg's lung cancer rates have consistently been higher than the Welsh average.
Source: BBC News, 13 October 2023
See also: UK NSC recommends introduction of targeted lung cancer screening
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Government consultation: Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping
The Government has published a consultation on the proposed actions the UK Government and devolved administrations will take to tackle smoking and youth vaping.
The consultation asks questions in 3 areas for which new legislation would be needed, which are:
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Creating a smokefree generation: consulting on the smokefree generation policy and its scope.
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Tackling youth vaping: consulting on several options to ensure we take the most appropriate and impactful steps, building on England’s analysis of the youth vaping call for evidence.
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Enforcement: consulting on the proposal to introduce new powers for local authorities in England and Wales to issue fixed penalty notices to enforce age of sale legislation of tobacco products and vapes.
The consultation closes on 11:59pm, 6 December 2023.
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Podcast: How did free-market think tanks take over Westminster?
In this episode of POLITICO’s Westminster Insider podcast, host Ailbhe Rea takes on what remains a controversial topic: the role free-market think tanks really play in our politics.
Ailbhe interviews the co-founder of one of these free-market think tanks, the Adam Smith Institute’s Madsen Pirie, and hears his candid account of how they wield influence across Westminster. They dive inside the funding of these think tanks and the close relationship between the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) and Liz Truss.
The podcast also discusses the way free-market thinktanks are funded and the links between the IEA and the tobacco industry.
Source: POLITICO Europe podcast: Westminster Insider, 6 October 2023
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.
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