PMFTC President Denis Gorkun holding IQOS Iluma, the latest innovation in heated tobacco product category
The president of the country’s leading heated tobacco company said that the passage of the landmark Vape Law a year ago was a “win” for public health and that the “young” legislation has opened the door to future science-based innovative products that are better alternatives to cigarettes.
Guesting at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay on Wednesday, PMFTC Inc. President Denis Gorkun said “the passage of the Vape Law affirms the Philippine Government’s support for the concept of tobacco harm reduction as a tool to reduce cigarette consumption.”
Gorkun noted that in today’s environment with scientifically proven better alternatives, “doing nothing is just prolonging the life of cigarettes and shortening the lives of people who consume those cigarettes.”
PMFTC is the business combination between Philip Morris International and the Lucio Tan Group. The company launched IQOS three years ago in the Philippines and has so far switched 75,000 Filipino smokers away from cigarettes.
Gorkun said PMFTC would launch “very soon” in the Philippines the next level in tobacco innovation called IQOS ILUMA, a device that is more consumer-friendly and uses induction technology to heat instead of burn tobacco.
He also revealed that the company would soon launch oral nicotine pouches called ZYN, an oral nicotine delivery product that is completely smoke-free. ZYN is the best-selling nicotine pouch in the United States and is manufactured by a recent-PMI acquisition Swedish Match.
Gorkun said PMI is working to deliver a smoke-free future with the goal of completely eliminating cigarette consumption. “We will continue to work towards our smoke-free future vision with products that are found by numerous international health authorities to be far better compared to continuing to smoke cigarettes.”
IQOS ILUMA
“The negative health effects of cigarettes are long established. It is well known that, in the interest of one’s health, never smoking is the best choice. If someone is already smoking, the next best choice is to quit completely,” Gorkun said.
“But the fact is that around one billion people around the world still smoke, despite being fully aware of the negative health consequences. At the same time as smokers are encouraged to quit, those adults who don’t quit deserve pragmatic and sensible solutions that can help them make a better choice than continuing to smoke cigarettes,” he added.
Gorkun said the passage of the Vape law is a big win for public health and the government can make the law work by setting product standards and getting the information to smokers about how much these products are better than smoking cigarettes.
Energy Undersecretary Sharon Garin, a former member of the House of Representatives and one of the authors of the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine, said the Vape Law received “so much admiration from other countries,” when she spoke at a Global Forum on Nicotine in Warsaw, Poland recently.
“We have passed a law that’s quite progressive,” she said, noting that, “this law is a little more forward-looking because it included the powers to regulate those who are selling online.”
According to Garin, “If there was no regulation, it doesn’t mean that a product is prohibited, it’s free-for-all and you don’t regulate, then anybody can buy,” even minors.
“You don’t make it cool to the kids. We don’t want non-smokers to pick up the habit of vaporized or electronic cigarettes. What we want is a less harmful alternative for current smokers,” she said.
“As a previous representative and author, I do believe that this law was passed at the right time with the right formula. What we want is a less harmful alternative but also at the same time we didn’t want minors to pick it up,” she noted.
With the passage of the Vape law, Garin is optimistic that “with the coordination between Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Health and including Department of Finance with the Bureau of Internal Revenue, I think we can hopefully see a smoke-free country or even at the minimum we have a healthier and more productive community.”
READ: PMI expands range of heated tobacco products in PH