Itongadol.-One of the world’s largest cigarette producers withdrew its sponsorship of the annual Israel Medical Convention, set to take place in Jerusalem in two weeks, at the request of the organizers.
The conference is considered one of the more important events in the Israeli medical community, and is sponsored by a number of different important medical and other organizations. According to Channel 2, one of these organizations was Philip Morris International, which manufactures Marlboro cigarettes.
The main theme of the conference is the connection between medicine and society, and both President Reuven Rivlin and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat are scheduled to address the conference.
One of the conference sponsors, local Jerusalem newspaper Kol HaIr (voice of the city) told Channel 2 that, “Philip Morris suggested holding a discussion about lessening the damage caused by tobacco, but after other sponsors expressed concerns that they did not feel comfortable with this, it was decided to cancel [the sponsorship].”
A representative of Philip Morris told Channel 2: “Over the past several years we have witnessed technological innovation that is changing the tobacco industry with a wide-range of smokeless tobacco products that have the potential to severe lessen the medical risks when compared to smoking. With this in mind, Philip Morris has been in discussions with the medical scientific community and takes part in conferences on the subject. At the request of the conference organizers, we have withdrawn our sponsorship and have not made any payments [to the conference].”
According to the its website, Philip Morris International has run a joint venture with the Swedish Match AB company to develop smokeless tobacco products.
The American Cancer Society estimates that six million people die each year from tobacco use.