Delon Human

Delon Human is a South African doctor who has collaborated with British American Tobacco (BAT) on its “tobacco harm reduction” activities.¹²³⁴⁵

Dr. Human set up a consultancy called EuroSwiss Health which funded a 2014 study assessing the relative harm of nicotine-containing products and stated that e-cigarette use is 95% safer than smoking. Human went on to establish the company NicoLIFE which provided consultancy services to BAT, and Health Diplomats, a consulting company that has “partnered” with BAT.³⁴⁵ See below for more details.

Background

Dr. Human served as Secretary General of the World Medical Association (WMA) from 1998 to 2004.⁶⁷

Human is often referred to as having served as an “adviser to the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon”.⁸⁹ Although he was briefly considered an advisor to the WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity (ECHO) during his time as Secretary-General of the International Food and Beverage Alliance (see below), he was removed by the WHO after his links to the tobacco industry became known.¹⁰

Relationship with the Tobacco Industry

NicoLIFE

Human set up the company NicoLIFE in 2008 to promote a “…wise nicotine policy, science and products to enable smoking cessation and reduce tobacco harm”.¹¹

In 2010 BAT funded NicoLIFE/Human to write a book on harm reduction, titled “Wise Nicotine”.² The foreword stated that BAT’s role was limited to funding and “supplying information on request and to reviewing extracts from the final version of the book for technical accuracy”.²

BAT’s 2013 Sustainability Report stated that “NicoLife has provided consultancy services to BAT on our approach to harm reduction”.¹

Human was quoted in the report, saying that:

“through its public commitment to tobacco harm reduction…[BAT] makes itself accountable to its consumers and society. This should be applauded and, if successful, BAT could become part of the solution to addressing the epidemic of tobacco-related disease.”¹

NicoLIFE is no longer active.¹²

Health Diplomats

Human is the President and CEO of Health Diplomats, a health and consulting company he set up in 2006.¹³ Between March 2019 and March 2023, the Health Diplomats website stated that it worked “in partnership with Nicoventures, a subsidiary of the British American Tobacco company”.³⁴⁵¹⁴ This statement was subsequently removed from the website,¹⁵¹⁶ and was replaced in 2024 by a disclosure page stating that the company had provided “harm reduction services” to tobacco companies and manufacturers of nicotine products.¹⁷

In March 2023, Human stated that he “[c]urrently [had] no contract with any nicotine company whatsoever”.¹⁸⁵

Health Diplomats supports harm reduction “alliances” in Africa (AHRA), Asia (AsHRA) and Latin America (PAHRA); has lobbied for less stringent regulation of newer nicotine and tobacco products; and established a “Smoke Free Sweden” campaign.¹⁹²⁰²¹

• For further details see Health Diplomats

Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum

Human has stated that he has received expenses for attending the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF), which is sponsored by the tobacco industry.⁵¹⁸ He has spoken at multiple GTNF events.^{22232425262728}

CORESTA

CORESTA is an industry association founded in 1956 ‘for scientific research relative to tobacco’. In 2016, Human was a keynote speaker at the CORESTA Congress in Berlin.²⁹ He was invited to speak about harm reduction, the “opportunities for Next Generation Products” and “bridging the gap between industry science and public health”.²⁹³⁰

Other activities

EuroSwiss Health

Human and Pierre-Yves Mayor established EuroSwiss Health SA in 2003. ^{31 32} This consultancy funded a 2014 study by Nutt et al which assessed the relative harm of nicotine-containing products and, controversially, concluded that e-cigarette use is around 95% safer than smoking.^33343536 Co-authors included Riccardo Polosa,³⁶ and Karl Fagerstrom (see SCOHRE). Apart from funding this paper, EuroSwiss Health appears not to have conducted any other activities in tobacco harm reduction, or any other activity.

Oral Nicotine Commission

Human is chairman of the Oral Nicotine Commission. The commission describes itself as “an independent body made up of leading figures in the international medical, scientific and public health policy communities, whose goal is to help build the evidence base and raise awareness of the benefits of oral nicotine among governments, public health leaders and the public, thus countering negative, unfounded preconceptions and stereotypes.”³⁷ There is no funding information on the website.

The Oral Nicotine Commission has collaborated with other organisations linked to Health Diplomats. The contact e-mail address for the organisation is tobaccoharmreduction.net.³⁸ Members of the commission wrote a report on oral nicotine, “supported by Health Diplomats”, which was published in 2020.³⁹

The commission held a meeting “in cooperation” with tobaccoharmreduction.net and AHRA in 2022, to discuss Sweden’s low smoking rate and “the worldwide issues with the regulation and acceptance of snus and oral nicotine products”.⁴⁰

Other members of the commission include:⁴¹

• Dr Kgosi Letlape, co-founder of AHRA and President of the Africa Medical Association.
• Dr Anders Milton, owner and CEO of Milton Consulting, chair of the Snus Commission, co-author of a ‘Smoke Free Sweden’ report (see Health Diplomats),⁴² involved in the ‘Quit Like Sweden’ campaign.⁴³⁴⁴
• Dr Karl Fagerström, founding member of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT), and co-author of the ‘Smoke Free Sweden’ report.⁴² He has received consulting fees from Swedish Match and other tobacco companies, including BAT and PMI.⁴⁵⁴⁶ See The International Association on Smoking Control and Harm Reduction (SCOHRE) for more details.

Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN)

Human has also appeared on the list of speakers at the Global Forum on Nicotine, an event which has provided a platform for the tobacco industry and others to promote tobacco harm reduction.⁴⁷

Other Affiliations

• According to its website, Human is a member of Concordia.⁴⁸ He was listed as a speaker at the 2018 Concordia Americas Summit.⁴⁹ For more information on this global organisation and its relationship with PMI from 2017 to 2023, see Concordia.
• Human is Chair of the board of Cryomass Technologies,⁵⁰ which “develops and licenses cutting-edge equipment and processes to refine harvested cannabis, hemp, and other premium crops”.⁵¹
• In August 2019, Human was appointed to the Board of Directors of First Columbia Development Corp, a company specialising in medicinal cannabis.⁵²
• In November 2016, Human joined the Medical Advisory Board of Canadian cannabis company, PharmaCielo.⁵³ In November 2019 he was listed as Chair of the advisory board.⁵⁴ Subsequently, members of this advisory board were not listed on the PharmaCeilo website.⁵⁵ For more information see Cannabis.
• From 2010 to 2014, Human was the Secretary-General of lobby group International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA),⁵⁶⁵⁷ an alliance of multinational food and drink companies.⁵⁸ Human was allegedly removed as IFBA’s Secretary-General after his tobacco industry links became known to the WHO.¹⁰
• The Human Salmon Foundation, a charitable organisation set up in 2007 by Human and his wife, to “enabl[e]…vulnerable children to face the future with confidence by supporting sustainable health, education and community programs”.⁵⁹

Relevant Links

• Health Diplomats website

Tobacco Tactics Resources

• Health Diplomats
• British American Tobacco
• Newer Nicotine and Tobacco Products: British American Tobacco
• E-cigarettes: British American Tobacco
• Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum
• Country Profile: South Africa

TCRG Research

The Science for Profit Model—How and why corporations influence science and the use of science in policy and practice, T. Legg, J. Hatchard and A.B. Gilmore, Plos One, 2021, 16(6):e025327