Pfizer Supports Complete Smoking Ban in Public Areas and Improved Access to Smoking Cessation Treatments across Europe



    Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) (LSE:PFZ) welcomes the European Commission's
    Green Paper on smoke free environments(1), which was put for public
    consultation earlier this year. Today in Brussels, a week before World
    No Tobacco Day (May 31st), the world's leading life sciences company
    submitted its recommendations on the questions raised in the
    Commission's Paper. The Consultation will conclude on June 1st.

    To effectively support millions of Europeans in their efforts to
    stop smoking, improve their health and prolong lives; to protect
    non-smokers from the damaging influence of passive smoke; and to
    prevent young people from taking up the habit, European
    decision-makers should endorse the following measures:

    -- A total ban on smoking in public places as the most
    effective way to encourage quitting and discourage taking
    up smoking.

    -- The introduction of binding EU legislation to implement
    such bans, as the most appropriate way to ensure
    compliance across the EU.

    -- The implementation of supportive measures, such as
    awareness raising campaigns and increased access to
    cessation therapies, including funding of therapies, to
    maximise the impact of smoking bans.

    The WHO-sponsored "World No Tobacco Day" also focuses on
    smoke-free environments this year. On its website, the World Health
    Organization states that the evidence demands immediate, decisive
    action to protect the health of all people. "100% smoke free is the
    only answer."(2) This is further supported by Article 8 of the
    Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC): Protection from
    exposure to tobacco smoke,(2 )which has been signed and ratified by
    the European Community.

    Tobacco is the single largest cause of avoidable death in the
    European Union accounting for over half a million deaths each year and
    over a million deaths in Europe as a whole(3). It is estimated that
    15% of all deaths, 25% of all cancer deaths(3), and 16% of all deaths
    from cardiovascular diseases (CVD)(4 )in men in the Union can be
    attributed to smoking.

    Smoking, however, does not only kill, it costs money to EU
    citizens and governments: CVD alone is estimated to cost EU Member
    States EUR 463 million per day, mostly due to direct healthcare costs
    (62%) and productivity losses (21%)(4).

    "There is a tremendous urgency for EU Member States to introduce a
    comprehensive and holistic set of policies aimed at protecting their
    citizens by reducing tobacco use and preventing tobacco related
    diseases in Europe", said MD Jack Watters, Pfizer's Vice President of
    International Medical Affairs. The urgency of these policies are
    recognized worldwide(5 )including the introduction of smoking bans as
    well as improved access to smoking cessation therapies for smokers
    motivated to quit.

    In the field of smoking cessation, measures based on compromise
    are destined to fail. Pfizer welcomes the important process the
    Commission has set in motion by issuing this Green Paper. "The
    European Union and Member States should now show the political courage
    to endorse the most comprehensive and all-inclusive policy options",
    said Watters. "Pfizer will strongly support every effort that leads to
    better health and disease prevention in Europe."

    (1) "Towards a Europe free from tobacco smoke: policy options at
    EU level", published on January 30, 2007

    (2) http://www.who.int/tobacco/communications/events/wntd/2007/en/

    (3) European Commission (http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph
    determinants/life style/Tobacco/tobacco en.htm)

    (4) British Heart Foundation, European Heart Network, "European
    Cardiovascular Diseases Statistics", February 2005 -
    http://www.ehnheart.org/files/statistics%202005-092711A.pdf, accessed
    April 2007

    5 See WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on the WHO
    Website, http://www.who.int/tobacco/framework/en/