How tobacco harm reduction can solidify BAT Malaysia’s biz sustainability

THIS may sound ironic but not many Malaysians know that tobacco harm reduction has been part and parcel of British American Tobacco Malaysia Bhd’s (BAT Malaysia) business strategy since the past decade to reduce grave health consequence stemming from smoking prevalence.

Akin to fastening a seatbelt when driving to prevent the deaths associated with car accidents, the same principle applies for Malaysia’s only listed cigarette manufacturer on Bursa Malaysia.

Through its tobacco harm reduction strategy, both BAT Malaysia and smokers achieve a win-win situation whereby the exposure of the smoking public to less health hazardous products will be positive to long-term business sustainability.

In this regard, the BAT Group claimed to have invested billions to develop, commercialise and scientifically-substantiate its portfolio of reduced-risk tobacco and nicotine products.

In 2021 alone, it increased its investment in ‘New Categories’ by almost £500 mil (RM2.7 bil) while its 1,500 plus research & development (R&D) specialists globally continue to generate robust evidence to substantiate the reduced-risk potential of its ‘New Category’ products.

“In this regard, we believe that tobacco harm reduction is critical if we are to reduce the negative health impact of conventional cigarettes by offerings adult smokers who would not otherwise give up smoking an alternative source of nicotine with reduced risks,” BAT Group director (scientific research) Dr David O’Reilly told FocusM.

“We know that adult smokers are more likely to switch and replace smoking entirely if the alternative tobacco and nicotine products deliver comparable satisfaction in nicotine delivery, use and sensorial aspects.”

Dr David O’Reilly

In order to make tobacco harm reduction a reality, O’Reilly, who is tasked to reducing the harm caused by cigarettes, acknowledges the need to create a system that is clear about the harm caused by smoking “while still recognising holistically and consistently where real public health gains can be made.”

As such, he said the BAT Group will continue to play its role in tobacco harm reduction to develop and offer the widest range of reduced-risk alternatives to cigarettes to adult smokers by ensuring that these products are backed by robust science.

“Reducing the health impact of our business is at the heart of our purpose – to create A Better Tomorrow (BAT Group’s tagline) – and we believe the progress we’re making in this area will help accelerate tobacco harm reduction to become a reality globally.”

Less hazardous vapour products

To the best of its knowledge, O’Reilly said BAT’s vapour products are less risky than cigarettes when smokers make a complete switch.

“The reason I believe this is based on the weight of evidence. It is generally accepted that the risks associated with cigarettes come primarily from the burning of the tobacco and not the nicotine; and the key thing to understand about our vapour products is that none of them involve burning tobacco. And none of them contain tobacco either,” he revealed.

Moreover, results from multiple studies show that vapour from BAT’s e-cigarettes contain significantly fewer and lower levels of known toxicants than smoke from conventional cigarettes but also that the vapour has reduced biological impact on human cells in several laboratory-based tests.

Last year, BAT published a comprehensive review of the scientific evidence for vaping products, their potential health effects and their role in tobacco harm reduction over the past decade.

According to population modelling studies cited in the review, a significant reduction in premature deaths could be achieved if current smokers switched exclusively to vaping rather than continuing to smoke.

These modelling studies use population data and simulations to project the health-related outcomes associated with the long-term risks of smoking versus vapour use over time.

“About 100 million adult smokers have already switched to reduced-risk tobacco and nicotine products globally, and I firmly believe tobacco harm reduction is an important public health policy that enables and supports adult smokers to make the switch,” opined O’Reilly.

“This is important in any country, including Malaysia, where there are people who continue to smoke cigarettes.”

While robust, scientific evidence, proportionate regulation and access to reduced-risk tobacco and nicotine products are key to encouraging those who would otherwise continue to smoke to switch, also key is regulation that is practical and enforceable for the regulator, industry and consumers. – June 22, 2022

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