Treat smoking with the same harm reduction strategy that turned the tide against HIV/Aids in South Africa, a leading tobacco company urged the parliamentary portfolio committee on health.
Philip Morris SA said in its current form, the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill fails to distinguish between combustible cigarettes and what it argues are “less harmful smoke-free alternatives” such as heated tobacco, e-cigarettes and oral nicotine products.
PMSA director of external affairs in Southern Africa Themba Mathebula said: “South Africa was at the forefront of the battle against HIV/Aids. We met people where they were. We gave them options. We gave them tools and, most of all, we gave them choice. The quit or die approach has not been proven to be effective, and we know it will not work. Smoke-free products can give smokers a fighting chance, not just to survive, but to quit smoking for good”
Buhle Binta, PMSA head of scientific engagement, presented research which she said showed heated tobacco products (HTP) expose users to fewer harmful chemicals than traditional cigarettes.
She said a 2020 report from the Dutch National Institute for Public Health found users of HTP were exposed to 10 to 25 times fewer carcinogens.
Countries such as Japan, the UK and New Zealand have recorded drops in smoking rates after introducing smoke-free alternatives, while Sweden is on track to become the first smoke-free nation in Europe, largely due to its practical stance on oral nicotine products, the company posited.
“The best choice a smoker can make for their health is to quit altogether. However, we appreciate from evidence that not everyone does. So the next best option for those who do not quit is to change and we believe they need to be supported to switch to scientifically proven reduced-risk products,” said Binta.
She said PMSA had submitted a dossier of the studies it had accumulated over the years to the committee.
“Scientific evidence needs to be the North Star that informs our health policies. This is an opportunity for us to accelerate the decline in smoking rates in South Africa. Let us strive to be the example in Africa that will be used as a benchmark. We have done this in the case of the HIV pandemic and we can do it in dealing with the burden of tobacco-related illnesses,” said Binta.
Mathebula said while no tobacco product is risk-free, “our scientific assessments of our heated tobacco products have shown that, by removing the process of combustion, the aerosol produced by our products contains 90 to 95% lower levels of harmful chemicals than in cigarette smoke.
“Seeking to regulate empirically different products the same way is not rational. Also, ignoring evidence of the different risks and benefits presented by smoke-free products is not rational ...
“We were told several times that harm is harm and I hope by now the committee will appreciate that such a statement does not have a place in the bill.”
PMSA recommended that harm reduction should work alongside tobacco control, noting that the two approaches are complementary and effective when combined. The bill should embed a risk-proportionate framework, applying stricter measures to combustible products while setting differentiated rules for less harmful alternatives.
Addressing youth access, PMSA called for urgent action and rejected packaging that could appeal to minors, saying “a vape does not need to look like a milkshake for adults to use it”.
PMSA also urged a review of the bill’s broad definition of “promote”, warning that, in its current form, it could criminalise even health experts or families for sharing accurate information about smoke-free products.
Mathebula said PMSA had already invested billions globally in developing scientifically substantiated smoke-free products, available in 97 markets including South Africa, with a single aim: “We have committed and we want to make cigarettes obsolete.”
Committee chairperson Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo commented: “It was very refreshing to hear someone from the tobacco industry supporting smoke-free this strongly and this is historic for me.”
TimesLIVE
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