BATN Seeks Better Policy for Curbing Tobacco Smoking

As the world makes this year’s World No Tobacco Day, one of the producers of tobacco, British American Tobacco, BATN calls on government to consider more ways to curb the act.

A statement from the company recalls that “taxation was first used to address tobacco consumption in 1604 by King James I in the UK and World No Tobacco Day, on May 31, will see numerous groups calling for tax and excise to be increased as a way of reducing tobacco use around the world”.

The statement observes that the World Health Organisation’s own estimates suggest there are now one billion smokers across the globe, and by 2050 this number could increase to 2.2billion.

“As such, surely for governments seeking to reduce tobacco use it’s now time for new, more progressive approaches to be considered”, the statement says.

It added that recent research in the UK suggests that smokers trying to quit are 60% more likely to succeed if they use e-cigarettes.

“Offering adult smokers access to a choice of substantially less risky products such as e-cigarettes is an approach that many refer to as ‘Tobacco Harm Reduction’ and it is something we support.

“However, for this approach to work governments and the public health community need to embrace this concept and the products that support it.

“Recent media reports suggest that less risky nicotine products such as e-cigarettes could be classified as tobacco products by the WHO. This could see governments eventually subjecting e-cigarettes to hefty excise duty, public smoking bans and severe marketing restrictions, all of which would hamper their growth and development - this can only be a bad thing for public health”.

BATN stresses: “We hope the arguments being made by the scientific community, the industry and public health campaigners will demonstrate the need for policy makers to carefully consider the benefits of tobacco harm reduction and give it their full support.

“We invest approximately £170million per year in research and development which is enabling us to develop an expanding range of alternative tobacco and nicotine products including the launch of our first e-cigarette, Vype.

“As such, we believe we can and should be a part of this debate and possible solutions, given our knowledge of consumers and our global reach.

Tobacco harm reduction provides a progressive public health policy direction. We welcome the opportunity to collaborate on making this policy a global reality.”