Tobacco companies are pushing to sell their ‘heated tobacco products’ in Australia – you should be concerned

The Australian Government’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has received an application from tobacco giant Philip Morris seeking approval to sell their heated tobacco products in Australia.

This development is very concerning.

Tobacco companies claim these products, which produce aerosols containing nicotine and other harmful chemicals, are less harmful than traditional cigarettes. The facts do not support this claim.

These heated tobacco products are quite new to the market and have only been in use for a few years in other countries. Because of this we don’t understand their long-term effects on our health. It is also concerning that most of the studies that have looked at the health effects of these products have been sponsored by tobacco companies.

To truly understand the impact of these products we need long-term, independent studies.

What is particularly troubling is there is evidence from other countries where these products are sold that they are likely to be taken up by young people and people who have never smoked before. They are being marketed as ‘modern, high-tech and high-end’ lifestyle products, which appeal to young people. A similar tactic has been successfully used by companies to market electronic cigarettes to young people.

For the last 30 years, the Australian Government has used a number of strategies, including health promotion, legislation and taxation, to successfully reduce the number of Australians who smoke. In 1991, the daily tobacco smoking rate for people aged 14 years and older was 24 percent. By 2016, this rate had fallen to 12 percent.

If the tobacco industry was successful in its bid to introduce heated tobacco products into the Australian market, this would fly in the face of the hard work put in by many groups in this country over the last three decades.

Stroke Foundation is committed to reducing the number of preventable strokes in Australia. We know people who smoke tobacco are twice as likely to have a stroke compared to those who have never smoked. But it is encouraging to know that your risk of stroke decreases after you quit smoking.

As the voice of stroke in Australia, Stroke Foundation has put in a submission to the TGA’s recent public consultation on this issue highlighting our concerns.

It has been encouraging to see peak medical bodies, including the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australian Medical Association, publicly voice the same concerns.