Exclusive Interview with Damilola Fajuyigbe, Ph.D, BCMAS
By innovating non-combustible products, we aim to provide less harmful alternatives for adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke.
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LifestyleTranscript
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.