Big Tobacco Criticized For Donating Ventilators To Greek Hospitals Amid Coronavirus Crisis

Topline: The Greek subsidiary of tobacco giant Philip Morris International has been slammed by campaigners for a “shameful publicity stunt” after it donated 50 ventilators to Intensive Care Units, the The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported, amid warnings that smokers are more vulnerable to serious symptoms of COVID-19.

• Tobacco firm Papastratos, owned by PMI, donated the “high-tech” ventilators to Sotiria hospital earlier this month, a move which was welcomed by Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias.
• Papastratos communications director, Stavros Drakoularakos, tweeted on March 18: “Sometimes you are proud. And sometimes you are sky-high proud. This is the latter. And it is further proof of what sheer will & collaboration-between-all can achieve.”
• But the move was criticised on Monday by leading campaigner Deborah Arnott, CEO of charity Action on Smoking Health (ASH). “This is a shameful publicity stunt by Philip Morris International, which owns Papastratos and has a 40% share of the Greek tobacco market.”
• ASH, which has launched a #QuitForCovid anti-smoking campaign, warns that smokers are more vulnerable to COVID-19 and more likely to suffer severe symptoms of the virus.
• Greece has, like many countries across Europe, seen an acceleration in confirmed coronavirus cases over the last three weeks, with more than 1,100 infections as of Monday afternoon, and 39 deaths.

Crucial comment: “If smoking does predispose people to having adverse outcomes during Covid-19 it is a funny position to be giving ventilators but selling a product that leads to worse outcomes,” said Constantine Vardavas of the University of Crete’s school of medicine, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported.

Key background: A shortage of ventilators and a shutdown in manufacturing facilities around the world has prompted carmakers and planemakers, among others, to step in and provide the life-saving equipment that aids breathing. 

The World Health Organization has warned that smokers are more vulnerable to the virus because of increased contact between the mouth and the lips, while some may already have reduced lung capacity, which makes them more susceptible to the most serious symptoms. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are a dry cough, fever and tiredness, the WHO says, while difficulty breathing is among the more serious symptoms, and those with underlying medical conditions are more at risk of experiencing the most serious symptoms.

Tangent: A study cited in The Lancet medical journal and published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 58% of COVID-19 patients across 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in mainland China were men. The Lancet suggested that the findings could be linked to a dramatically higher smoking rate among men (288 million smokers, 2018) in China, compared with women (12.6 million smokers, 2018). Another study, also in China, found that among the critically ill patients, most were men.

Further reading: Mercedes F1 Team Trials New Coronavirus Breathing Aid In London Hospital (Iain Martin)

Billionaire James Dyson Confirms His Company Will Make An Initial Order Of 10,000 Ventilators In The U.K. (David Dawkins)