Open Letter to PMI from 123 Organizations Arendtm September 14, 2017 Featured News & Events, News & Events 4 September 14, 2017 André Calantzopoulos Chief Executive Officer Philip Morris International Avenue de Rhodanie 50 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland Dear Mr. Calantzopoulos, The undersigned organizations, representing global health, human rights, consumer protection, medical and other organizations, call on you to immediately cease the production, marketing and sale of cigarettes. This action is at least half a century overdue, and tens of millions have died unnecessarily as a direct result of tobacco use. In 1954, Philip Morris promised to “stop business tomorrow” if it became apparent that cigarettes are harmful to health.[1] This promise was repeated for decades, most recently in 1997 by Philip Morris CEO Geoffrey Bible, who responded to the question “What he would do with his manufacturing plants if scientists proved that cigarettes were a cause of cancer?” by saying he would “shut it down instantly.[2]” We know from Philip Morris’ own internal documents that the company was aware that cigarettes were harmful even in 1954; by 1997 Mr. Bible’s response was simply absurd in the face of overwhelming scientific proof. Cigarettes cannot be “re-engineered” to make them acceptable in global commerce; they are inherently defective. There is no safe level of consumption, and they provide no necessary benefit to their consumers. Given the deadly nature of tobacco smoke, and the extremely addictive nature of nicotine, the marketing and sale of cigarettes violates several universally accepted human rights, in particular the right to life and the right to health. In May 2017, a human rights organization that had been engaged in voluntary collaboration with PMI, the Danish Institute for Human Rights, ended its relationship with your company and concluded that “According to the UNGPs [United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights] companies should avoid causing or contributing to adverse impacts on human rights. Where such impacts occur, companies should immediately cease the actions that cause or contribute to the impacts. Tobacco is deeply harmful to human health, and there can be no doubt that the production and marketing of tobacco is irreconcilable with the human right to health. For the tobacco industry, the UNGPs [United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights] therefore require the cessation of the production and marketing of tobacco.[3]” The front page of PMI’s own website depicts a video of employees “Designing a Smoke-Free Future.[4]” Your rationale includes “because…society expects us to act responsibly.[5]” If, by your own logic, acting responsibly requires you to stop selling cigarettes, by what ethical rubric can you continue to sell them? The only possible explanation is that you feel you can still profit from doing so. That decision – to continue a business model that you have admitted is irresponsible – is unacceptable. And to continue profiting from a product that you know will kill a significant proportion of your customers when used as intended is monstrous. PMI, its shareholders, and you personally have been enriched while knowingly killing your customers. You have it in your immediate power to change the fate of millions of people, perhaps hundreds of millions. Do the right thing by immediately ceasing the production, marketing and sale of cigarettes. Read PMI’s Response Signed, ACT Promoção de Saúde (ACT Health Promotion, from Brazil) Action on Smoking and Health Foundation (Thailand) Action on Smoking and Health New Zealand Action on Smoking and Health (US) African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) Airspace Action on Smoking and Health Alliance of Women against Tobacco (Tabinaj) (Bangladesh) American Cancer Society, Inc.* American College of Chest Physicians Americans for Non-Smokers’ Rights* ASH Finland ASH Scotland (UK) Asia-Pacific Heart Network* Association for the Prevention of Addictions (Bulgaria)* Association of Medical Students in Bulgaria* Belgian Foundation Against Cancer BlueLink Foundation (Bulgaria)* Breathe Free (Bulgaria)* Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids* Cancer Aid Society, India Cancer Society of Finland CIPRET-Vaud* Coalición Panameña Contra el Tabaquismo (COPACET) Coalition Camerounaise Contre le Tabac College of Global Public Health at New York University Comité National Contre le Tabagisme Committee / Unesco University Club for the Fight against Drugs and Other Pandemics (CLUCOD)* Community Nursing Association Corporate Accountability International Danish Cancer Society* Danish Heart Foundation Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pneumologie und Beatmungsmedizin e.V. DNF-Droits des Non-Fumeurs Dutch Alliance for a Smokefree Society EHYT Finnish Association for Substance Abuse Prevention Environmental Rights Action / Friends of the Earth Nigeria Ethical Shareholders Association Germany European COPD Coalition (ECC)* European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention European Respiratory Society (ERS) Evidence-based Health Policy Development (EBHPD) FCTC Implementation and Monitoring Center in Georgia Finnish Heart Association Finnish Lung Health Association FOMCA* German Medical Action Group Smoking or Health Global Bridges Global Economic Law Network, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne Global Network for Tobacco Free Health Services Green Hand Organization – Lebanon Healis – Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health Health and Trade Network Health Jurists Association Human Rights and Tobacco Control Network Indian Cancer Society, Delhi Institute for Youth Participation, Health and Sustainable Development InterAmerican Heart Foundation International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease INWAT Europe Israel Cancer Association* Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control Jeewaka Foundation – Sri Lanka Jogja Sehat Tanpa Tembakau (JSTT / Tobacco-free Healthy Jogja)* Lithuanian Tobacco and Alcohol Control Coalition Madrid Association of Public Health Mexico Salud-Hable Coalition National Alliance for Tobacco Control (ALIENTO) NCD Alliance New Vois Ass’n. of the Phils. Inc. No Excuse Slovenia Noncommunicable Disease (NCD) Roundtable* Norwegian Cancer Society ORGANIZACION 3600 BOLIVIA OxyRomandie Patients’ Organization “With you!” (Bulgaria)* Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada Policlinique médicale universitaire CH-Lausanne `Pratyasha’ Anti-Drug’s Club PROGGA Progressive Reinforcement of Organizations and Individuals Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law Public Health Association of Australia* Public Health Society of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands Research and Training Centre for Community Development (RTCCD) SELBAR – Selangor Bebas Asap Rokok* SERAC-Bangladesh Slovenian Coalition for Public Health, Environment and Tobacco Control Smart International* Smoke Free Agents Smoke Free Bulgaria – Civic Iniciative* Smoke Free Life Coalition Bulgaria Smoke Free Israel* Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance Spanish Primary Care Network Spanish Society of Environmental Health Spanish Society of Epidemiology Spanish Society of Public Health and Health Administration Swarna Hansa Foundation Swiss Association for Tobacco Prevention T&T Consulting Limited Tanzania Tobacco Control Forum The Australian Council on Smoking and Health (ACOSH)* The Austrian Council on Smoking and Health The French Alliance against Tobacco The Heart Foundation of Jamaica The Organisation for Respiratory Health in Finland Tobacco-free Finland Tobacco Alcohol Free Initiative, (TAFI), Eldoret, Kenya Tobacco Free Association of Zambia* TobaccoFree Research Institute Ireland (TFRI) Truth Initiative* UBINIG Policy Research for Development Alternative Ukrainian NGO Advocacy Center “LIFE” Unfairtobacco Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) Vietnam Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance (NCDs-VN) Vietnam Public Health Association* Vision for Alternative Development (Ghana) Vital Strategies World Federation of Public Health Associations* YPCDN* Zambia Consumer Association Zambia Heart and Stroke Foundation Academics Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH Dean, School of Global Public Health at New York University Gary Fooks Co-Director, Centre for the Critical Inquiry into Society and Culture, School of Languages and Social Science, Aston University, UK Gérard Dubois Membre de l’Académie de Médecine (France) Ronald Labonté, FCAHS, HonFFPH Professor and Canada Research Chair (Globalization and Health Equity), School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Canada Ruth Malone, RN, PhD, FAAN Professor and Nursing Alumni/Mary Harms Endowed Chair, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco; Editor-in-Chief, Tobacco Control [1] Weissman, George, Philip Morris Inc. Facts versus fancy. 26 February 1954. Bates No. 1002366389-1002366397. [2] Cerriden M. Tobacco exec stuns observers. Dallas Morning News. 22 August 1997. Bates No. 86329862-86329865. [3] Danish Institute for Human Rights, Human Rights assessment in Philip Morris International, Web, May 4, 2017. Found at https://www.humanrights.dk/news/human-rights-assessment-philip-morris-international. [4] Philip Morris International, https://www.pmi.com. [5] Philip Morris International, https://www.pmi.com/who-we-are/designing-a-smoke-free-future. [Original list of 95 organizations. *Last updated October 5, 2017 at 12:59 PM Eastern with 28 additional organizations.] 4 Responses 89 Health Groups to Philip Morris International: Stop Selling Cigarettes – ASH > Action on Smoking & Health September 14, 2017 […] Open Letter to PMI from 89 Organizations […] Let’s Get Rid of Cigarettes – ASH > Action on Smoking & Health December 5, 2017 […] September 2017, 123 public health organizations from 43 countries echoed this sentiment with a letter to the CEO of Philip Morris International, demanding that PMI implement its former […] 95 Health Groups to Philip Morris International: Stop Selling Cigarettes – ASH > Action on Smoking & Health January 15, 2020 […] Read the letter here. […] Tobacco Production, Marketing Violate Basic Human Rights – ASH > Action on Smoking & Health December 23, 2020 […] Read the sign-on letter to PMI that followed this announcement, where 123 organizations in 40+ countries call on Philip Morris International to immediately cease all marketing and production of cigarettes to adhere to human rights norms. […]
89 Health Groups to Philip Morris International: Stop Selling Cigarettes – ASH > Action on Smoking & Health September 14, 2017 […] Open Letter to PMI from 89 Organizations […]
Let’s Get Rid of Cigarettes – ASH > Action on Smoking & Health December 5, 2017 […] September 2017, 123 public health organizations from 43 countries echoed this sentiment with a letter to the CEO of Philip Morris International, demanding that PMI implement its former […]
95 Health Groups to Philip Morris International: Stop Selling Cigarettes – ASH > Action on Smoking & Health January 15, 2020 […] Read the letter here. […]
Tobacco Production, Marketing Violate Basic Human Rights – ASH > Action on Smoking & Health December 23, 2020 […] Read the sign-on letter to PMI that followed this announcement, where 123 organizations in 40+ countries call on Philip Morris International to immediately cease all marketing and production of cigarettes to adhere to human rights norms. […]
