Jonathan Wilhoite Blog: The Doctor Who Beat Big Tobacco Keeps On Fighting

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

The Doctor Who Beat Big Tobacco Keeps On Fighting

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The doctor who beat big tobacco, Dr. Brownwyn King, has seen the fruits of her hard-earned labor with the growing funding and support of ongoing drives to battle the world-wide epidemic of tobacco-use that has accounted for the loss of millions of lives worldwide.

The doctor who beat big tobacco is unrelenting

In a recent announcement by the world’s second biggest insurer AXA, the insurance giant decided to withdraw its investments in the tobacco sector, worth more than 1 billion Euros.

Thanks to the unrelenting representations of Dr. Brown that led the AXA leadership to divest its holdings form tobacco investments in support of the global call to educate and instill awareness of lung cancer and tobacco smoking as a primary cause of this deadly disease.

King is a doctor of medicine and is the current head of the Global Task Force for Tobacco Divestment of the Union for International Cancer Control.

Fruits of labour

In a press statement issued by AXA late May this year, Deputy Chief Executive Officer Thomas Buberl issued the official declaration of the insurance firm to let go of all of its investments on the tobacco industry.

“We strongly believe in the positive role insurance can play in society, and that insurers are part of the solution when it comes to health prevention to protect our clients. Hence, it makes no sense for us to continue our investments within the tobacco industry. With this divestment from tobacco, we are doing our share to support the efforts of governments around the world. This decision has a cost for us, but the case for divestment is clear: the human cost of tobacco is tragic; its economic cost is huge. As a major investor and a leading health insurer, the AXA Group wants to be part of the solution, and our hope is that others in our industry will do the same.” Buberl says in the press statement, who is also the incoming CEO of AXA.

Tobacco as a global health hazard

According to the World Health Organization, smoking is the leading preventable cause of death all over the world. It is responsible for the deaths of 6 million people every year including some 600,000 who die from exposure to second-hand smoke.

Thanks to the courageous and determined efforts of Dr. King, millions of lives may soon be saved and pulled away from the clutches of death from lung cancer and other tobacco-related diseases.

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