The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is not buying into the idea that Philip Morris International (PMI) is “healthier” than before, following the company’s migration away from cigarettes to what it calls “lower-risk alternatives” and PMI’s efforts during the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the company called for a truce between “anti-tobacco lobbies” and the industry.
“WHO continues to refuse to even have a conversation with us,” said PMI c.e.o., Andre Calantzopoulos.
PMI believes that if WHO and tobacco companies are able to work together, they can better encourage adult smokers who would otherwise keep buying cigarettes to switch to vaping or other alternatives it calls lower risk. PMI projects that by 2025, at least 40 million Philip Morris cigarette smokers will have switched to smoke-free products.
“If I get support from the World Health Organization, and we stop the ideological debates and focus on the real needs of the people, that can happen much faster,” Calantzopoulos said.
Tarik Jasarevic, US WHO spokesman, said WHO’s rules prevent it from engaging directly with tobacco companies “partly because tobacco companies have misled health authorities and the public about the risks associated with tobacco use.”