PMI Science recently published the views of public health agencies as they relate to the harm and risk-reduced characteristics of heated tobacco products.
NEW YORK CITY — Tobacco giant Philip Morris International published on its research and development website a rundown document showing the views of several public health agencies as they related to heated tobacco devices and their risk-reduced properties.
“Health authorities around the world have begun to examine the evidence showing the potential role of smoke-free products in their harm reduction strategies if they have one,” indicates a reference article on the study published on PMI Science’s website on July 13.
Here are some of the positions on heated tobacco products some governments maintain:
- United States of America and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA): PMI referred to a press release from the FDA that announced the authorization of the company’s IQOS system as a modified risk tobacco product. FDA notes: “The agency determined the company demonstrated that because the IQOS Tobacco Heating System heats tobacco and does not burn it, it significantly reduces the production of harmful and potentially harmful chemicals compared to cigarette smoke.”
- United Kingdom and Public Health England: PMI cites the several evidence reviews that Public Health England (PHE) conducts on alternative nicotine products. PHE notes: “The available evidence suggests that heated tobacco products may be considerably less harmful than tobacco cigarettes and more harmful than e-cigarettes.”
- Japan and the Department of Environmental Health/Japanese National Institute of Public Health: PMI cites an evidence review documenting the overall harm relative to cigarettes compared to traditional products and the IQOS system. The department found that “the concentration levels of hazardous compounds in the mainstream smoke of IQOS are much lower than those in conventional combustion cigarettes.”
- Germany and the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment/Ministry for Food and Agriculture: The institute, after studying the aerosols from an IQOS device, the reductions “lead to the relevant questions of putatively reduced health risks.”
Tobacco Reporter reported on the PMI Science study on policy and scientific positions initially. You can read their coverage and the full study at PMI Science.
