British American Tobacco South Africa - Tobacco harm reduction

We have been clear for many years that our business needs to be built on outstanding products, informed consumer choice and a drive towards a reduced-risk portfolio, underpinned by world-class science. We are doing this by providing consumers with diverse and less risky ways of consuming nicotine if they do not want to quit.

Non-combustible products offer a compelling option for the estimated over 19% of the world’s adult population who smoke¹.

We aim to:

•  Increase consumers of non-combustible products to 50 million by 2030; and
•  Grow New Category revenues to £5 billion by 2025

Our Approach at a Glance

Building A Better Tomorrow™ is at the core of our Group strategy, and we aim to generate an increasingly greater proportion of our revenues from products other than cigarettes, thereby reducing the health impact of our business.

1. We are committed to providing adult consumers with a wide range of enjoyable and less risky products.
2. We continue to be clear that combustible cigarettes pose serious health risks, and the only way to avoid these risks is not to start or to quit.
3. We encourage those who otherwise continue to smoke to switch completely to scientifically substantiated, reduced-risk alternatives*†.
4. We will track and share progress of our transformation.

We believe there are three key enablers to make this a reality: enabling consumer choice, substantiating the reduced-risk profile of New Category products through world-class science and responsible regulation.

Applying Best Practice Research Standards

There is broad agreement among policymakers and the public health community on the need for, and importance of, developing an appropriate science base to inform policies and educate consumers about potentially reduced-risk products. The science associated with tobacco harm reduction plays an important role within the industry in terms of building consumer trust in potentially reduced-risk products. The purpose of world-class science is to establish whether products are safer, or less risky, compared with cigarette smoking.

We follow strict best practice standards for all our scientific research. These include standards set by the OECD and the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) Group. We govern our clinical studies according to the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki (2008), as defined by the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use and CONSORT’s Good Clinical Practice Standard.

These principles require each study to be publicly registered, recommend that its protocol is published and that a data handling plan is agreed before data is acquired. As well as following this guidance, we register each study with the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number registry before they begin. We also require all collaborators or partners to openly acknowledge BAT’s role – whether it is funding or expertise – when discussing the work they’ve done with or for us.

1 Euromonitor International (2020).
* Any reference to ‘reduced-risk products’ is based on the weight of evidence and assuming a complete switch from cigarette smoking. These products are not risk free and are addictive.
† Our products as sold in the US, including Vuse, Velo, Grizzly, Kodiak, and Camel Snus, are subject to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation and no reduced-risk claims will be made as to these products without FDA clearance.

External links

• BAT Science