Exclusive Interview with Damilola Fajuyigbe, Ph.D, BCMAS

IncArabiaEn

By innovating non-combustible products, we aim to provide less harmful alternatives for adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke.

Transcript

00:00Africans don't need sunscreen and that drives me crazy.

00:03Cigarette is no longer of use to anyone.

00:05Cigarette is completely eliminated from this world.

00:10We invite everyone from all walks of life,

00:12from doctors to politicians, regulators, to come to our lab.

00:21Thank you so much for the invitation.

00:23You have an amazing establishment.

00:25So for the audience, my name is Damlola Fadjube.

00:28I am the Head of Scientific Engagement

00:30for Middle Eastern Africa at Philip Morris International.

00:33And you're right,

00:34before I came into Philip Morris International,

00:37I was working on reducing the harm

00:39associated with cases, sun exposure,

00:43reducing the harm associated with skin bleaching practices,

00:46and at some point, even air care practices.

00:48So reducing the harm associated with air care routines.

00:52And so as you can see,

00:54harm reduction is really a fundamental part of my life.

00:58It's something that is embedded in our everyday life.

01:01And when it comes to sun exposure, for example,

01:04we know that excess sun exposure,

01:06we know that sun exposure is linked to skin cancer,

01:08but in that realm, we don't say avoid the sun at all costs.

01:13No, we give more practical solutions to say,

01:16you know, wear sunscreen, wear a hat, wear sunglasses.

01:19So it's the same thing for me in tobacco, right?

01:21It's about how can we provide less harmful solutions

01:25to people who would otherwise continue to smoke.

01:28And at PMI, this is what we are doing.

01:30We have spent the better parts of the last decade

01:33working on and conducting studies on smoke-free products.

01:37Smoke-free products are products that do not combust,

01:40that do not burn tobacco.

01:41So by removing the combustion element,

01:43we are able to significantly reduce the temperature

01:47that tobacco is used.

01:48By reducing the temperature at which tobacco is used,

01:52you're able to significantly reduce the level of toxicants

01:54in the smoke-free products compared to cigarettes.

01:57So our mission at PMI is quite clear.

01:59It's about providing better alternatives to smokers,

02:02to adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke

02:05and to make cigarettes obsolete.

02:07Quite honestly, I wouldn't tag anything

02:09that I do as challenging.

02:11I think I have the best job at PMI

02:16because I get to interact with really smart people,

02:19really smart doctors,

02:20doctors that are smarter than me,

02:22to discuss the realities of tobacco use,

02:24to discuss how can we drive faster cigarettes

02:28out of our world.

02:29So I think I'm in a very privileged position.

02:32So scientific engagement is the dissemination of science

02:37to stakeholders so that they can have more knowledge

02:39to make more informed decisions, right?

02:42And what we do is in the region that I cover,

02:45Middle East and Africa, I have teams across this region

02:48and this helps to facilitate one-on-one dialogue

02:52with the different stakeholders.

02:54So we do that.

02:55At PMI globally, we also employ digital platforms.

02:58So every few weeks we have something called Open Science

03:01and this is available on our website, PMIScience.com.

03:06It's available on LinkedIn.

03:07It's available on YouTube.

03:08And essentially in this hour-long segment,

03:11you get to hear from different speakers

03:13about smoke-free products,

03:15about the journey of tobacco harm reduction.

03:17You also get to have your questions answered.

03:20So we have questions from all around the world

03:22and the speakers answer the question on stage.

03:26So we do that.

03:27Also, this is the most interesting part to me.

03:29We also entertain visitors at our research

03:32and innovation center in Switzerland.

03:35So we invite everyone from all walks of life,

03:37from doctors to politicians, regulators,

03:40to come to our lab at Neuchâtel in Switzerland.

03:43And there, they get to see how we conduct the science.

03:48They get to speak to subject matter experts

03:49and get their questions answered.

03:51So we use these different modalities

03:54to be able to get the information to the right stakeholders

03:58in an accurate and impactful way.

04:00The most effective methods

04:02for promoting harm reduction, I would say,

04:05is to ensure that you are drawing parallels

04:07to people's everyday life, right?

04:09So when I talk about tobacco harm reduction,

04:10like I said in the beginning,

04:12I draw parallels to sun exposure

04:13because everyone experiences sun exposure.

04:16And most people, I hope, wear sunscreen.

04:18So by drawing these parallels

04:19to everyday activities of human life,

04:22wearing sunscreen, wearing helmets, wearing seatbelts,

04:25these are already harm reduction practices.

04:28So when it comes to tobacco,

04:30I'm often quite surprised that people don't,

04:32upon my first interaction with them,

04:35they are not aware of the sheer volume of science

04:38that comes in this smoke-free products category.

04:41For us at PMI, we have over 500 articles

04:44and book chapters that we have done on smoke-free products.

04:48And just last week,

04:49I was Googling on a popular scientific platform, PubMed.

04:52And on PubMed, I just Googled,

04:54eat a tobacco product,

04:55and it came up with 962 articles.

04:59That's a lot.

05:00So there's a lot of science out there.

05:01And we are using the different modalities

05:04that I prescribed to you in the beginning.

05:06We are sharing the information out there.

05:08Definitely, I think there's more to be done, right?

05:12In terms of, for example,

05:14creating mass awareness that it is the burning of tobacco

05:17that is the primary cause of disease and not nicotine.

05:20Nicotine is addictive, it's not risk-free,

05:23but the primary cause of disease

05:24is the toxicants that comes out from burning tobacco.

05:28So there's a lot more work to be done

05:30to really sort of inform the public

05:34about the science of these products.

05:36And I think we are doing well.

05:38I think the most impactful project I've worked on

05:42was my entire job in the beauty industry,

05:45where I was in charge of increasing the awareness

05:49of sun protection in Africa for Africans, right?

05:52Because there is a misconception

05:53that Africans don't need sunscreen,

05:55and that drives me crazy.

05:57So I worked on that project for the entirety of my career

06:02in the cosmetic industry.

06:03And there, I learned many things.

06:05One is that you need to have a clear, consistent message.

06:08Two is that you need to show you're working,

06:10show your evidence, show the science.

06:12And three, and very important,

06:14is you need to collaborate with people on the ground.

06:16So you need to collaborate with the doctors,

06:18the dermatologists.

06:19You also need to collaborate or cooperate

06:21with the public health organizations.

06:24So when it comes to PMI,

06:26this is what I bring to this mission of a smoke-free future.

06:31It's about, okay, we are creating the science, right?

06:33We are conducting science, we are publishing the science,

06:36and we are very transparent

06:37in everything that we are doing scientifically.

06:40But we are also, what do you call it,

06:42calling on public health officials,

06:44we're calling on regulators,

06:46we're calling on scientists, global scientific community,

06:49to review the science or do their own

06:51so that we can really move forward

06:53and create a smoke-free future,

06:56a future where cigarettes is no longer of use to anyone,

07:00where cigarettes is completely eliminated from this world.

07:05Honestly, for me, one thing that I think

07:08will truly revolutionize or really fast-track harm reduction,

07:14tobacco harm reduction,

07:15is for people to fully understand the parallels

07:19that exist in this world, right?

07:20To understand that tobacco harm reduction

07:22is not an isolated entity that PMI is trying to push.

07:28Harm reduction itself is a public health approach

07:31that is taken to minimize the consequences

07:34related to certain conditions, right?

07:36It is basically you saying that

07:38we can't completely eliminate something,

07:40but we're going to safeguard it in a way

07:42that the consequences are minimized, right?

07:45So what I would really want in the world

07:48is for people to understand that,

07:50that tobacco harm reduction is not any different

07:52from any other form of harm reduction.

07:54And adult smokers deserve a chance.

07:56They deserve a chance to hear about the science

07:59that we are doing, that independent researchers are doing,

08:03and they also deserve a chance to access the product.

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