Gregoire Verdeaux, Senior Vice President, External Affairs, at Philip Morris International, speaks to camera:

You have to start with the people.

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There are still over 1bn smokers in the world

Traditional anti-smoking policies alone aren’t working

Gregoire Verdeaux continues speaking:

It's decades and decades of a very traditional policy, which is to tell the people, of course, that they shouldn't start smoking cigarettes and when they have started, that they should try to quit. But then taxing them until they quit, which we know by and large, doesn't work.

By adopting risk-proportionate regulation, governments can encourage adult smokers who don’t quit…

…to switch to scientifically substantiated better alternatives and leave cigarettes behind for good.

Gregoire Verdeaux continues speaking:

It's about how to make sure that adult smokers can actually access a less harmful product.

And thankfully, this is what a number of regulators have started to acknowledge that smoke free products are a lot less harmful than cigarettes.

If you compare better alternatives to cigarettes to clean air, then you will realize that yes, they are not risk free compared to clean air, but if you compare them to what they should be compared with, which is cigarettes, then you realize that without a doubt they are less harmful.

So, if you stop looking at things from the traditional tobacco control policy, the prevention, the cessation, the taxation, but also in complement say, well, if none of the above has worked, which frankly is the case for the past 40 years, what can we do?

And then this is where you realize that the smoker needs to be able to access the product, needs to be able to know about the product, this product has to be affordable and it has to provide the experience that will help the smoker to switch away from cigarettes exclusively, irreversibly.

It is very doable to get rid of cigarettes the moment that you have a tobacco harm reduction approach and thankfully a number of regulators, the most advanced ones have started to recognize that.

Smoke-free products are not risk-free and provide nicotine, which is addictive, but they are a better choice for adults than continued smoking.

Quitting tobacco and nicotine completely is the best choice.

Philip Morris International’s logo is seen on screen.

Delivering a better, smoke-free future.

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