Tobacco Industry News

Africa: Tobacco Harm Reduction: Will There Ever Be a Viable Consensus?

The E-cigarette summit – science, regulation, and public health, took place virtually on the 7th and 8th of December, 2021. Scientists, policymakers and public health professionals have been participating in this event annually since 2013. On the 7th, a session titled "The new tobacco wars", was introduced, and detailed by Clive Bates, a strong advocate of Tobacco...

Proposed amendment to tobacco products act puts livelihood of millions of women in jeopardy: Study

Synopsis The study delves into the impact this COTPA amendment will have on millions of women beedi rollers in the country. The report said that until skill-building and alternative employment is provided on a large scale for their livelihood, Beedi rolling is the only viable occupation for millions of women across India. The study states...

Philip Morris launches menthol tobacco blend with a taste of dark forest fruits

Philip Morris Limited (PML) has announced the launch of HEETS Mauve, a new variant in its range of HEETS tobacco sticks designed exclusively for the IQOS heated tobacco system. IQOS is the UK’s number one smoke-free product and presents less risk to your health than continuing to smoke. Unlike a vape product, which uses liquid, IQOS is an electronic device that heats real tobacco for a more...

Reward smokers who want to quit, not punish them with taxes

The current debate on tobacco harm reduction in Malaysia is unbalanced, with far too great an emphasis on taxation and the state’s role in dictating the health of its citizens. In a paper published recently by the Property Rights Alliance (International Best Practices for Tobacco and Nicotine Public Policy), which we co-authored with three Malaysian...

WHO Needs Reduction To Escape Unsuccessful “Quit or Die” Tobacco Strategy

Tobacco kills roughly eight million people around the world every year, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has long aimed for complete eradication of the substance, calling it “one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced.” This month’s ninth Conference of the Parties (COP9) of the WHO Framework Convention on...

New minimum price for cigarettes proposed for South Africa

British American Tobacco SA (BATSA), one of South Africa’s largest tobacco companies, has called on the government to introduce a new minimum price for cigarettes in the country. In a statement on Wednesday (10 November), BATSA said that a new floor price will help combat illegal suppliers and improve tax collection in the country. A survey by market...

Up in smoke: Will Biden let a patent fight eliminate an alternative to cigarettes?

President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda depends a lot on smokers and their compulsive habit. Smoking generates tax revenue — lots of it. Part of the theory is that high taxes, restrictions on advertising, research on the deleterious health effects of smoking, and the cultural stigma surrounding smoking will wean Americans off tobacco, but too...

Kenyan doctors urge cigarette smokers to use safer alternatives

Kenyan and other African medics have issued a call through the African Harm Reduction Alliance (AHRA) to the World Health Organisation (WHO) to save millions of cigarette smokers by supporting safer alternatives. The call by the medics comes as the number of cigarette smokers continues to surge in Kenya and Africa, according to the Tobacco...

Good COP, bad COP: A tale of two COPs

This COP season, it may be time to draw parallels between two very similar gatherings with diametrically opposite profiles and approaches. Climate change and tobacco-related harms. Both are urgent issues facing humankind. Both are being addressed by global treaties and conventions. For both the problems, a wide range of solutions are coming from old...

The WHO “Postponed” Tobacco Harm Reduction Talks Until 2023

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) provisional agenda for its COP9 which is currently ongoing in Geneva, had indicated that any discussions pertaining to tobacco harm reduction (THR) will be moved to COP10 taking place in 2023. The WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) provisional agenda for COP9, was released on August 5th, and it had...

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