The world of cigarettes travels towards a turning point, to the point that within 15 years traditional smoking could disappear. The first sign of change has arrived in the United States, where the government agency that regulates the trade of food and pharmaceutical products (Fda) has given the green light to the sale of Philip Morris's Iqos system as a "modified" risk product. Translated, it means that the health dangers are lower (although not eliminated) compared to traditional cigarettes, because the tobacco is not burned, but only heated.
This novelty opens new horizons also in Italy, where science looks with interest at technological developments in the smoking sector. The cardiologist Salvatore Nova, president of the Central European Vascular Forum (Cevf), explains that “devices that heat tobacco but do not burn it do not release all the harmful substances of traditional cigarettes, such as carbon monoxide. Sure, they're not harmless, but they're less harmful."
Fabius Beatrice, director of the San Giovanni Bosco Anti-Smoking Center in Turin, underlines however that in Italy "there is still a long way to go" on harm reduction when it comes to cigarettes: "We are not an Anglo-Saxon country: here we are either talking about or nothing. In medicine, however, there are many shades of gray, patients must be given alternatives. Nobody, not even the FDA of course, says that there is a "healthy smoke", but we know that there are ways to reduce the substances inhaled. And therefore it is a path that can be proposed, even if it will take years to understand how useful it can be".
For Claudio Cricelli, president of the Italian Society of General Medicine, Italy “still suffers from preconceptions. If a patient comes to me and tells me that he smokes I advise him to quit, which is always the best thing to do. However, if he doesn't want to and / or can't, I can't tell him to change doctors, and I help him look for other solutions ”.
Among these there are precisely "reduced-risk devices, alternatives to cigarettes, which are an aid to quitting the habit - he specifies Andrew Fontanelle, angiologist and president of the Fadoi Foundation, a scientific society of internal medicine – However, institutions and doctors don't always see the same way about smoking cessation policies. For example, we all agree on the argument that smokers must stop, but the big problem to overcome is that only 10% succeed on their own. It is necessary to think about the fact that between getting nothing and getting something, in my opinion we should opt for this second option”.
From a commercial point of view, André Calantzopoulos, CEO of Philip Morris International, states that "within 15 years, in regulatory contexts capable of supporting innovation, the sale of cigarettes could end in many countries", given that "over 10 million smokers in the world have already completely eliminated them ”. The goal, continues the manager, “is to completely replace cigarettes with better products for those who don't quit. We aim to convert at least 40 million smokers to alternative products by 2025, half of which in OECD countries".
Compliments! Very interesting post!