Coming Soon: Risk Reduction

This report analyzes how the concept of risk reduction is strategically used by the tobacco industry, particularly Philip Morris International (PMI), to exert influence in the field of public health. PMI has publicly committed to a “tobacco-free future” and claims it wants to end cigarette sales. The company presents this decision as a historic contribution to public health and bases its strategy on “smoke-free” products such as IQOS. At the same time, it has created the “Foundation for a Smoke-Free World,” which claims to promote scientific research on risk reduction.

PMI presents its commercial interests as a contribution to the promotion of public health, positioning itself as part of the solution to the global tobacco epidemic. The company establishes a direct link between the decline in cigarette sales and the rise of its so-called “smoke-free” products. It seeks to legitimize this transition by promoting values such as transparency, inclusivity, and science, which it has established as the new guiding principles of its corporate communications.