update December 2024
Quit for Good is run by its President, Dr Lorenzo Mata, an occupational health physician from the Philippines. According to the organization’s manifesto, it states to be committed to the principle of “harm reduction” in the area of cigarette smoking.
[1] In reality this organization promotes the views that benefit the tobacco and nicotine industry. For example, it echoed Philip Morris International’s “quit or die approach does not work” [ref] and participated in the Scientific Summit of the International Association on Smoking Control & Harm Reduction (SCOHRE), which provides a platform for the industry to participate.[ref]
This organization has supported the passage of the retrogressive Republic Act No. (RA) 11900 in the Philippines[2]widely criticized by public health professionals and groups because it lowered the age of access for e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs) from 18 to 21 years old, allowed online advertisement for e-cigarettes and HTPs, and placed the authority to regulate these electronic smoking devices with the industry-friendly Department of Trade and Industry.[3] Despite its rhetoric of “tobacco harm reduction,” Quit for Good has advocated for these eroded public health safeguards, describing RA 11900 as “one of the most well-studied pieces of legislation.”2
Mata’s views are promoted on the website of ASCRA Consulting Inc,[4] a consulting firm in the Philippines which has received three grants (July 2021, August 2022, February 2024)[5] from the Philip Morris-funded Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (now renamed Global Action to End Smoking) and on the industry website, Tobacco Reporter.[6][ref] Mata’s views that vaping was a “safer alternative” to smoking was published in the Malaysian media at the time the country was debating their new tobacco control law which included a ban on newer tobacco products such as e-cigarettes.[7]
Quit for Good has also promoted its tobacco harm reduction narrative to a global audience. In November 2023, the organization signed on to the Consensus Statement of the International Association on Smoking Control and Harm Reduction urging the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to recognize “less harmful alternatives” for smokers who would not quit. Its president, a non-specialist in the fields of respiratory health, public health, or tobacco control, published a glowing endorsement of these electronic smoking devices as “replacement therapy” for recalcitrant smokers as part of a balanced policy.[8],[9] Furthermore, the organization echoed unproven claims of reduced coronary arterial disease risk from using heated tobacco products in comparison with conventional tobacco.[10] Quit for Good had undertaken these initiatives while attacking the Philippines’ tobacco control strategy[11] which was based on decades’ worth of public health evidence in line with the WHO FCTC.
The claims of this organization are at odds with mounting scientific evidence of risks from electronic smoking devices. It should be noted that no electronic smoking device has been granted a modified risk authorization from any regulator, even the US FDA, and that the WHO considers HTPs as regular tobacco products that still emit smoke.
[1] Quit for Good. (n.d.). Details About Quit for Good. Accessed 24 Nov 2024 from URL: https://www.facebook.com/quitforgoodph/about_details
[2] Manila Bulletin. (15 Aug 2022). Vape law described as one of the most well-studied pieces of legislation. Accessed 24 Nov 2024 from URL: https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/15/vape-law-described-as-one-of-the-most-well-studied-pieces-of-legislation/
[3] Republic of the Philippines. (26 July 2021). An act regulating the importation, manufacture, sale, packaging, distribution, use, and communication of vaporized nicotine and non-nicotine products, and novel tobacco products. Manila (Philippines): Congress of the Philippines. Retrieved 26 Nov 2024 from URL: https://legacy.senate.gov.ph/republic_acts/ra%2011900.pdf
[4] ASCRA Consulting. (n.d.). Health Experts Advocate for Safer Alternatives to Reduce Smoking Rates. Accessed 29 Nov 2024 from URL: https://ascraconsulting.com/health-experts-advocate-for-safer-alternatives-to-reduce-smoking-rates/
[5] Global Action to End Smoking. (n.d.). Awarded Grants. Accessed 28 Nov 2024 from URL: https://globalactiontoendsmoking.org/grants/awarded-grants/
[6] Tobacco Reporter. (30 Jan 2024). COP Urged to Implement Harm Reduction. https://tobaccoreporter.com/2024/01/30/cop-urged-to-implement-harm-reduction/
[7] The Sun. (29 Sep 2021). Vape to curb smoking. https://thesun.my/opinion-news/vape-to-curb-smoking-XC8224303
[8] Daily Tribune. (25 Oct 2020). When ‘quitters’ are winners. Accessed 26 Nov 2024 from URL: https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/daily-tribune-philippines/20201025/282376927073965
[9] Tobacco Reporter. (7 Nov 2023). Quit for Good Signs THR Statement. https://tobaccoreporter.com/2023/11/07/quit-for-good-signs-global-statement-of-support-for-thr/
[10] Manila Standard Business. (26 September 2024). Quitting cigarettes in favor of heated tobacco may prevent artery disease—study. Accessed 24 Nov 2024 from URL: https://manilastandard.net/business/314502512/quitting-cigarettes-in-favor-of-heated-tobacco-may-prevent-artery-disease-study.html
[11] Manila Bulletin. (28 Mar 2022). Filipino doctor: Current strategies ineffective in reducing harm of smoking. Accessed 24 Nov 2024 from URL: https://mb.com.ph/2022/03/28/filipino-doctor-current-strategies-ineffective-in-reducing-harm-of-smoking/