India can drive positive change to control tobacco use: Jacek Olczak, Philip Morris International

India can help drive positive change for the rest of the world and, as chair of the G20, be a prime example for emerging economies to control tobacco consumption, said Jacek Olczak, CEO of Philip Morris International.
"India is no stranger to harm reduction. It has led the world in embracing policies that reduce harm, has earned the reputation as a world leader in tobacco control. Nevertheless, there are still more than a hundred million people here who smoke," he said at the Economic Times Global Summit in Delhi on Saturday.

He said India could achieve the same results as a few other countries by making better choices available to smokers.

"What if, like in Japan, 35% people move to less harmful forms of tobacco consumption? That would mean 35 million adults in India having better alternatives to cigarettes. That would also mean reducing the burden on the healthcare systems," he said.

Olczak said there are 200 million users of oral tobacco users in India. "We have seen the impact of India adopting science and technology at scale, in the context of the pandemic, unified payments systems, many other areas," he said. "This pioneering approach can also apply to tobacco consumption reduction and bring a massive public health breakthrough."

Drawing attention to Phillip Morris, he said his company has been "a leading player in the cigarette market; now we are intentionally leaving behind that, embarking on a transformation to provide a vastly better solution for adults who smoke."

The global tobacco maker has committed to realise a smoke-free future, he said.

"Since 2008, we have invested more than $10 billion in researching, developing and commercialising better products. Now our smoke-free products are adopted in 74 markets," Olczak said.

Clearly, the best thing smokers can do is to quit smoking, he said.

"But what many people do not know is that the primary cause of smoking-related problems is combustion-which triggers the release of high levels of harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke."

Olczak added that thanks to advances in science and technology, it is now possible to eliminate combustion and replace it with controlled heating at much lower temperatures, and significantly reduce harmful chemicals.