Ling Pamela M, Glantz Stanton A
Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
Retired, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Tob Control. 2025 Jan 3. doi: 10.1136/tc-2024-059015.
In 2024, Philip Morris International's (PMI) website stated they support 'independent' continuing medical education courses on harm reduction for medical and other healthcare professionals. These courses mirrored industry marketing and political strategies by presenting smokeless tobacco products and e-cigarettes as alternatives to smoking, sometimes without mentioning tobacco cessation. The enactment of the US Family Smoking and Tobacco Control Act gave the US Food and Drug Agency jurisdiction over tobacco products and included the industry's 'continuum of risk' frame, and emboldened tobacco companies to make harm reduction claims about these products, which they had previously avoided for fear of triggering restrictive regulation of cigarettes. Opposition from the medical and public health community in the USA and beyond led one large company that partnered with PMI to offer the US courses to withdraw. The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (renamed Global Action to End Smoking in 2024) created by PMI also funded a non-profit to develop continuing medical education on harm reduction. US accrediting bodies for healthcare education do not have policies against certifying tobacco-sponsored courses, and there needs to be ongoing vigilance against such efforts around the world as well as efforts to secure policies at accrediting organisations to not accredit such industry efforts.
2024年，菲利普·莫里斯国际公司（PMI）的网站称，他们支持为医学及其他医疗保健专业人员提供关于减少危害的“独立”继续医学教育课程。这些课程通过将无烟烟草制品和电子烟作为吸烟的替代品来呈现，有时甚至不提戒烟，从而反映了行业营销和政治策略。美国《家庭吸烟与烟草控制法案》的颁布赋予了美国食品药品监督管理局对烟草制品的管辖权，其中纳入了行业的“风险连续体”框架，这使得烟草公司有恃无恐地对这些产品提出减少危害的主张，而此前他们因担心引发对卷烟的严格监管而一直避免这样做。美国及其他国家的医学和公共卫生界的反对，导致一家与PMI合作在美国提供课程的大公司撤回了相关业务。PMI创建的无烟世界基金会（2024年更名为全球终止吸烟行动）还资助了一个非营利组织来开展关于减少危害的继续医学教育。美国医疗保健教育认证机构没有针对认证烟草赞助课程的政策，因此需要在全球范围内持续警惕此类行为，并努力促使认证机构制定政策，不认可此类行业行为。
