Philip Morris International’s proposition to NHS bodies (World’s biggest tobacco firm under fire over ‘disgraceful’ PR stunt, 19 July) is not just a PR stunt – it’s part of a what looks like a strategy to undermine tobacco control, as leaked company papers seem to show. Globally, PMI appears to be using e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products and its Foundation for a Smoke-Free World as Trojan horses in a strategy to drive a policy agenda that will suit its own business needs. In our view, PMI is desperate to claim it is the critical element in reducing the harm caused by its own products and will no doubt use any link to the NHS to further its lobbying and marketing. Enabling it to co-opt the NHS would be a betrayal of everything the health service stands for.
Sandra Mullin
Senior vice-president, policy, advocacy and communication, Vital Strategies, New York
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