Philip Morris plans to discontinue Marlboro in Britain by 2030

Philip Morris International, a Swiss-American multinational cigarette and tobacco manufacturing company, called on the UK governments to ban the sale of its tobacco products, saying it will discontinue Marlboro cigarettes in England within a decade. 

This comes as the number of smokers in the UK reduces after consistent efforts by the government to discourage smoking. 

Philip Morris International (PM) CEO Jacek Olczak, in an interview with Sunday Telegraph, said that the UK government should treat cigarettes like gasoline powered cars which are going to be banned from 2030.

Also Read | Flood-hit London hospitals ask patients to stay away

The company CEO added that it “can see a world without cigarettes.” 

“The sooner it happens, the better it is for everyone,” said vice president of strategic and scientific communications Moira Gilchrist. “With the right measures in place, [Philip Morris] can stop selling cigarettes in the UK in 10 years’ time,” Moira added.

Philip Morris is aiming to generate over 50% of net revenue from smoke-free products in the next four years. “Quitting is the best option, but for those who don’t, science and technology has allowed companies like ours to create better alternatives to continued smoking,” Gilchrist said.

As a part of UK asthma inhaler maker Vectura’s ‘Beyond Nicotine’ strategy, it was acquired by Philip Morris International after signing a deal worth $1.2 billion. “Philip Morris has claimed that it wants to see the end of smoking for years now, but how can such claims be taken seriously from a company which sells more than one in ten cigarettes smoked worldwide?” Deborah Arnott, the CEO of UK public health charity Action on Smoking and Health said in a statement on Monday.

Deborah insisted that companies like Phillip Morris should fund government-backed anti-tobacco campaigns because such “fine words” are not the solution to the smoking problem that the world faces today. The UK government announced its vision of a smoker-free England by 2030 in 2019.