Africa: Tobacco Harm Reduction in Action – What PMI’s 2025 Value Report Signals for Low and MiddleIncome Countries

As low and middle-income countries (LMICs) continue to shoulder a disproportionate burden of smoking-related disease, access to pragmatic, evidence-based harm reduction solutions is becoming an increasingly urgent public-health priority.

Philip Morris International’s newly released 2025 Value Report offers an important snapshot of how tobacco harm reduction—through the accelerated adoption of smokefree products (SFPs)—is beginning to reshape both consumer behavior and corporate responsibility, including in markets that need it most.

Renamed from the Integrated Report, the Value Report reflects PMI’s intent to more clearly explain how it creates and preserves value across financial and nonfinancial capitals. Central to this is the company’s shift away from combustible cigarettes toward scientifically substantiated smokefree products (SFPs), which do not involve combustion and therefore significantly reduce exposure to harmful chemicals.

By the end of 2025, PMI reported 43.5 million adult users of smokefree products worldwide, with these products available in 106 markets. Importantly, more than half of those markets are low and middleincome countries, underlining that harmreduction alternatives are no longer limited to highincome settings. In parallel, smokefree products generated USD 16.9 billion in net revenues, accounting for 41.5% of PMI’s total net revenues, highlighting the commercial sustainability of the smokefree transition.

For LMICs, where cessation support is often limited and health systems overstretched, wider access to lowerrisk alternatives for adult smokers who would otherwise continue smoking is a critical component of a comprehensive tobacco control approach—alongside prevention, cessation, and strong regulation.

The report also emphasizes safeguards that are particularly relevant in emerging markets. 98% of PMI’s shipment volume is covered by youth access prevention programs in indirect retail, addressing concerns around underage access in complex retail environments. This focus is particularly relevant in markets where informal retail channels dominate. Strengthening controls in these environments helps build regulatory confidence and supports the credibility of differentiated regulations between combustible tobacco and lowerrisk alternatives.

Beyond products, the Value Report documents progress on broader social and environmental priorities. PMI reports zero prevalence of child labor within its tobacco supply chain and notes that 99.6% of contracted tobacco farmers earned a living income in 2025. Environmentally, the company achieved carbon neutrality with 46% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions compared to 2019.

Operational circularity also plays a role in enabling affordability and sustainability. Since 2021, 1.36 million smokefree devices have been refreshed or repaired, and all newly launched smokefree devices meet eco-design certification requirements, supporting longer product lifecycles—an important factor in price-sensitive LMIC markets.

The global health community continues to grapple with stubbornly high smoking rates in LMIC countries, the message from PMI’s reporting is clear: when smokefree alternatives are made accessible, responsibly regulated, and socially embedded, tobacco harm reduction can move from aspiration to measurable impact. It illustrates how tobacco harm reduction, when combined with youth protection, supplychain responsibility, and environmental action, can contribute to measurable progress in reducing the harms associated with smoking—without positioning any single measure as a standalone solution.

By Sebastien Satigui