In April 2019, I joined Philip Morris Japan as director of medical and scientific affairs. I’m a doctor — and a smoker — and after 25 years working in global health for the Foreign Ministry, I was attracted by the smoke-free vision of Philip Morris International, the world’s largest tobacco company.
Philip Morris, headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, states that it is building its future on “smoke-free products that — while not risk-free — are a far better choice than cigarette smoking.” Products such as its Iqos “heat-not-burn” device, which heats tobacco without setting it alight, offer a better alternative for adults “who would otherwise continue smoking cigarettes,” the company says, claiming that this amounts to “tobacco harm reduction.”
Yet while working at Philip Morris Japan, I came to view this as an illusion, a vision used to mislead customers around the world, including in Japan. It was here that Iqos was first launched in 2014 and the country remains the most successful market for the device — with Iqos’ global revenue now surpassing that of Marlboro, the world’s bestselling cigarette brand, also owned by Philip Morris.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.