LAUSANNE, Switzerland-Monday 8 April 2019 [ AETOS Wire ]
(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Philip
Morris International Inc. (PMI) (NYSE:PM) today launched “The Year of
Unsmoke,” an urgent call to action to smokers, nonsmokers, regulators
and agents of change across the world to drive a better future for the
world’s 1.1 billion smokers and their families, loved ones and
communities.
The
call to action stems from the knowledge that despite global efforts to
encourage people to quit or not to start smoking, the World Health
Organization predicts that there will still be approximately the same
number of people who smoke in 2025 as do today.
Jacek
Olczak, PMI’s chief operating officer, announced the company’s ambition
to lead the way toward truly global change: “It should be crystal
clear: If you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you smoke, quit. If you don’t
quit, change. That’s unsmoking. It is a fact that burning
generates the vast majority of harmful chemicals found in cigarette
smoke. Eliminating the combustion dramatically reduces the levels of
harmful chemicals. There is a growing consensus among scientists and
public health experts that products that do not burn and are backed by
science are a much better choice than cigarettes.”
PMI’s
mission is to create a smoke-free future backed by science, technology
and innovation to offer less harmful choices to those who would
otherwise continue smoking.
Mr.
Olczak added: “Many people and organizations still prefer to focus on
an ideological fight. The controversy they generate continues to confuse
people who smoke, and those skeptics are quickly becoming the biggest
advocates of continued cigarette smoking. The consequences of this
confusion are that people continue to smoke cigarettes, whose harmful
effects are well known. It is common sense to move away from ideology
and take concrete steps forward together toward a common goal: remove
smoke from our world and encourage 1.1 billion men and women to switch
to better alternatives if they do not quit.”
The
company launched the initiative as a rallying cry to drive global
progress, as well as to end a political stalemate in policymaking about
better alternatives to cigarette smoking.
The
“Year of Unsmoke” will help to drive this goal, through conversation
around the importance of going smoke-free, extending to smokers,
nonsmokers, engaged citizens, policymakers, regulators and key
stakeholders. “To enable people to make an informed choice about the
better alternatives that are available to them is the right thing to do,
and policymakers have a crucial role in making that happen. We are
asking for a unified global conversation to drive real change.”
A
new study, commissioned by PMI and carried out by respected global
research company Povaddo, said eight out of 10 (79 percent) people
globally, support PMI working with governments, regulators and public
health experts to phase-out cigarettes in favor of smoke-free
alternatives, and 73 percent believe it is a good thing for PMI to
transform its business model away from cigarettes and to only sell
alternatives like e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn tobacco products.
The
“Year of Unsmoke” kicks off a campaign called “Unsmoke Your World.” The
core message for the campaign, which PMI hopes to seed across the
world, is:
If you don’t smoke, don’t start
If you smoke, quit
If you don’t quit, change
Unsmoke
If you smoke, quit
If you don’t quit, change
Unsmoke
To
unsmoke is to rid smoke from your life. It unites smokers and
nonsmokers who want to unsmoke themselves, family and friends. The best
way to unsmoke is to quit cigarettes and nicotine altogether; the next
best way is to change to better alternatives.
To
date, PMI has invested over USD$6 billion in the research, development,
manufacturing and commercialization of smoke-free products and
dedicated 400+ scientists and engineers to research and development.
Philip Morris International: Building a Smoke-Free Future
Philip Morris International (PMI) is leading a transformation in the tobacco industry to create a smoke-free future and ultimately replace cigarettes with smoke-free products to the benefit of adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, society, the company and its shareholders. PMI is a leading international tobacco company engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, smoke-free products and associated electronic devices and accessories, and other nicotine-containing products in markets outside the U.S. PMI is building a future on a new category of smoke-free products that, while not risk-free, are a much better choice than continuing to smoke. Through multidisciplinary capabilities in product development, state-of-the-art facilities and scientific substantiation, PMI aims to ensure that its smoke-free products meet adult consumer preferences and rigorous regulatory requirements. For more information, see our PMI and PMIScience websites.
About Unsmoke Your World
PMI is transforming its business and increasing awareness of the urgent need to become smoke-free as well as awareness of better alternatives for smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke. PMI is producing smoke-free products that are a better choice for smokers than continued cigarette smoking and can benefit public health.
Unsmoke
is a PMI initiative to speed up an historic change in public
health. Through the Unsmoke movement we want to bring together a
community of people who can accelerate this change by becoming advocates
of the message that for smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke,
there are better alternatives to choose from.
Unsmoke Your World is a global conversation that inspires human stories—for the people, by the people.
About the Povaddo Survey
This survey was carried out March 26-28,2019, by Povaddo, an international opinion research firm, on behalf of Philip Morris International. The survey fielded a total of 4,545 online interviews among legal age, general population adults across 20 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States). The survey carries a margin of error of +/- 1.5% at the 95 percent confidence interval.
Contacts
Media enquiriesPhilip Morris International media office
T: +41 (0)58 242 4500
E: Tinat.Chowdhry@pmi.com
