New Survey from Philip Morris International Reveals Strong Societal Support for Disruptive Innovations to Drive Public Health Progress

A new international survey released today by Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) (NYSE: PM) reveals that despite broad public support for disruptive innovation to address global challenges, issues such as lack of equal access are likely to stall progress. Commissioned by PMI and conducted by independent research agency Povaddo, the survey shows that 89 percent of adults across 14 countries believe that new technologies and innovations can play an important role in improving public health. However, 38 percent feel such innovations are not accessible to all citizens in their countries.

The more than 17,000 survey respondents aged 21 and older believe that the development and adoption of new technologies, innovations, and capabilities can enable significant progress against a range of issues over the next 10 to 20 years, including:

• Encouraging healthier eating habits (78 percent)
• Ensuring quality and affordable healthcare for all (72 percent)
• Reducing smoking rates (65 percent)
• Eliminating hunger and malnourishment (62 percent)

“Disruptive innovation can drive progress for the world and achieve things few people imagined possible until recently,” said Grégoire Verdeaux, Senior Vice President, External Affairs, PMI. “But when the benefits of that disruption are not equally available to all, innovation fails to achieve its full potential. Pragmatic policy frameworks that anticipate innovations are needed so businesses and governments can ensure more equitable outcomes and a lasting impact for all.”

The international survey also highlights the potential of positive disruption in tobacco harm reduction—with 64 percent of respondents stating that new technologies and innovations can play an important role in helping replace cigarettes with less harmful alternatives for those adults who would otherwise continue to smoke. These better alternatives exist today thanks to advances in science and technology and significant investments by PMI and other companies.

However, progress is being hindered by public policies that have failed to keep up with innovation. In many countries, the only tobacco or nicotine-containing products that can legally be sold are cigarettes. And in markets where better alternatives are available, adult smokers often cannot access these products or receive accurate information about them.

“Today, with technological advances and scientific validation, we have an unprecedented opportunity to enact a major public health breakthrough—to effectively eradicate smoking faster,” added Verdeaux. “We can make this the tipping point at which millions of adult smokers are given accurate information about and access to innovative smoke-free products that are a much better choice than continued smoking. But for that to happen, all parties—businesses, governments, public health authorities—must work together.”

To deliver positive change quickly and equitably, fresh thinking and concerted action are needed. Findings from the international survey highlight the public’s frustration with policymakers’ performance to date. Specifically:

• 41 percent of respondents believe that government and public health authorities in their countries have done a poor job of embracing new technologies and innovations to improve public health.
• 47 percent believe government and public health authorities have done a poor job of ensuring everyone in their country has access to the latest innovations and technologies that can improve public health.

Survey respondents point to collaboration between government and the private sector as a catalyst of innovation, placing it just below capital investments by private companies. Asked to select the greatest enablers of innovation, respondents returned these results:

• Entrepreneurship (76 percent of respondents say it enables innovation)
• Consumer demand (74 percent)
• Capital investments by private-sector companies (72 percent)
• Collaboration between government and the private sector (69 percent)
• Competition within the private sector (69 percent)

Select results of this new international survey are featured in PMI’s latest white paper, Rethinking Disruption: Innovating for Better in an Era of Division, which explores the dynamics of positive disruption and its potential to drive meaningful progress on tobacco harm reduction and other critical issues. To bring about much-needed change and accelerate the end of smoking, PMI is transforming for good, having fundamentally revamped not just its product portfolio but also its purpose, business model, value chain, and practices. To learn more about how PMI is delivering a smoke-free future faster, visit pmi.com/rethinkdisruption.

Survey methodology

Povaddo conducted the online survey on behalf of PMI between July 19 and August 10, 2022. The survey was fielded among 17,207 general population adults aged 21 and older and a booster sample of 201 policy elites and 281 business elites in 14 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States. Approximately 1,100 interviews were collected in each country. Data have been weighted by age, gender, and nicotine product use per market to match national statistics. Results are accurate to a margin of error of ±1 percent. A similar study was commissioned in Saudi Arabia.

Philip Morris International: Delivering a Smoke-Free Future

Philip Morris International (PMI) is a leading international tobacco company working to deliver a smoke-free future and evolving its portfolio for the long term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company’s current product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products, which are sold in markets outside the U.S. Since 2008, PMI has invested more than USD 9 billion to develop, scientifically substantiate, and commercialize innovative smoke-free products for adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, with the goal of completely ending the sale of cigarettes. This includes the building of world-class scientific assessment capabilities, notably in the areas of pre-clinical systems toxicology, clinical and behavioral research, as well as post-market studies. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the marketing of versions of PMI’s IQOS Platform 1 devices and consumables as Modified Risk Tobacco Products (MRTPs), finding that exposure modification orders for these products are appropriate to promote the public health. As of June 30, 2022, excluding Russia and Ukraine, PMI’s smoke-free products were available for sale in 70 markets, and PMI estimates that approximately 13.2 million adults around the world had already switched to IQOS and stopped smoking. With a strong foundation and significant expertise in life sciences, in February 2021 PMI announced its ambition to expand into wellness and healthcare areas and deliver innovative products and solutions that aim to address unmet consumer and patient needs. For more information, please visit www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com.

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Contact information

David Fraser
Philip Morris International
David.Fraser@pmi.com
+41 (0)58 242 4500