The politics of harm reduction

The following are edited excerpts from a speech given by Mr David Davies, Senior Vice President Corporate Affairs, Philip Morris International, to the National Press Club last month.

Mr David Davies, SeniorVice President Corporate Affairs, Philip Morris International

Giving voice to co-operation and collaboration and not only to conflict and confrontation can and does promote public good. Philip Morris International advocates collaboration and it is a fact that we have significant common ground with tobacco control experts in Europe, here in Australia and around the world.

This is reflected in the stated objectives of the Draft Australian National Tobacco Strategy 2004-2009, which was approved by the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy on November 12 last year. Those objectives are:

• to prevent the uptake of smoking
• to encourage and assist as many smokers as possible to quit
• to eliminate harmful exposure to tobacco smoke among non-smokers, and
• where feasible, to reduce the harm caused by use and dependence on tobacco and nicotine among all social groups.[1]

Governments in Australia have a proven track record of addressing the first two pillars of harm reduction. More recently, government efforts have included measures aimed at addressing the third pillar of harm reduction - to protect non-smokers from environmental tobacco smoke.

But what of those adults, here in Australia and throughout the world, who are either unwilling, or unable, to quit smoking? Are measures to control tobacco the solution? Is prohibition the answer?

"We strongly support a licensing system with strong enforcement and appropriate penalties for those who illegally sell to children We have been researching and seeking to develop products that have the potential to reduce harm."

Even some of the tobacco industry's strongest critics in this country have said that prohibition is not an option. Even today, there are manywilling to make cigarettes unlawfully, distribute them unlawfully and sell themunlawfully. They and only they will benefit from prohibition.

Philip Morris International, and Philip Morris Limited here in Australia, support a range of strong and comprehensive regulations that apply to all tobacco products as well as to all companies engaged in the manufacture, distribution and sale of such products. For example, each participant in this industry should be required to obtain a licence, which could be withdrawn for non-compliance with very specific rules regarding its sector of business. We strongly support a licensing system with strong enforcement and appropriate penalties for those who illegally sell to children.

So where do we fit in? We have been researching and seeking to develop products that have the potential to reduce harm. We have knowledge, we have scientific expertise, and we want to share our knowledge and expertise to reach a better understanding of how products can be made less harmful.

We, along with governments and the public health community, should be working together to reduce the harm caused by smoking. These are ambitious goals both for Australia and for Philip Morris. We believe they are achievable and we are committed to working with federal, state and territory governments, public health experts - and also tobacco control advocates - to achieve them.

But if world health authorities and governments agree that a significant proportion of adults will continue to smoke, even when fully informed of the risks, more has to be done about reducing the harm to those who continue to smoke.

More has to be done than simply focusing on reducing the level of smoking incidence... we believe the next effective step is through addressing the issue of reduced harm products. It is to that end that we are researching innovative new products that, we hope, will significantly reduce the harmful effect of smoking.

Continued demand for tobacco products is a fact. The harm caused by smoking is most effectively addressed through collaboration, with all involved working towards the joint goal of reducing the harm. The challenge for us all is to put away bias and suspicion stemming from conflicts of the past; to recognise our common ground; and to work towards a comprehensive regulatory framework that embraces all four principles of harm reduction. It can be accomplished.

(The full text of Mr Davies Speech can be found at http://www.philipmorrisinternational.com/pages/eng/press/speeches/DDavies_20050323.asp . Ed.)