British American Tobacco (BAT) participated in the eighth edition of the Global Nicotine Forum (GNF), which was held this year in the city of Liverpool in the United Kingdom under the title “The Future for Nicotine”. International public health specialists, scientists, medical practitioners, tobacco control experts, industry and investment analysts and consumers have convened in this year’s edition of GFN to discuss the future for safer nicotine use and tobacco harm reduction.
The conference program included several topics tackling the nicotine industry, the main consumers for nicotine and why do they consume it, risks and rewards for public health of investment in nicotine innovation and the obstacles of tobacco harm reduction in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).
In line with their continuous efforts to build a better tomorrow by reducing the health impact of their business through offering a greater choice of enjoyable and less risky products for their consumers, British American Tobacco participated in this year’s edition of GFN.
Commenting on BAT’s commitment to creating a different future for smokers, society and their business, Dr. David O’Reilly, Group Scientific and R&D Director at British American Tobacco said: “The current public health strategy aims to minimize the negative health impact of smoking by encouraging smokers to quit and, for those smokers that would otherwise continue to smoke, encouraging them to make a complete switch to alternative reduced-risk products that contain nicotine but don’t involve the harmful burning of tobacco. Alternatives like vapor products or nicotine pouches are enjoyable alternatives for smokers because they provide the pharmacological and sensorial satisfaction sought by smokers. So, we need to make sure adult smokers have continued access to high-quality, extensively tested nicotine products, which reduce the health risks of smoking for individuals and society.”
Dr. David O’Reilly added: “We’ve been on a journey for many years now to find a way to reduce the health impact of our business. We built our business needs on offering outstanding products that adult smokers want to use and find satisfying, in addition to, the development of our reduced-risk portfolio underpinned by world-class science. Today, we offer a full range of our unique multi-category approach of reduced-risk products such as vapor, heated tobacco and oral nicotine pouches in over 50 markets around the world. This is made possible by the emphasis we put on science and innovation at BAT. We are doing this by providing adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke with diverse and less risky ways of consuming nicotine.”
British American Tobacco believes that the future for nicotine will not rely on any individual product, but on different products to meet different consumer preferences, knowing that the market for alternative nicotine products is fragmented, and not every consumer wants the same thing.
In 2003, BAT introduced their first e-cigarette as a very basic device. Today, BAT offers a range of vaping products, and also offers tobacco heated products (THPs) and oral nicotine pouches. All of them are reduced risk compared to continuing to smoke.
In the future, this trend of product innovation and switching will continue, with an ambitious target of 50 million consumers of non-combustible products by 2030. The pace at which adult smokers are switching to these products continues to accelerate, which can only mean good things for A Better Tomorrow.
