David Khayat, former Mr. Cancer in the service of the tobacco industry

A article published in Le Monde April 14, 2021 highlights the close ties between David Khayat, a former figure in the fight against cancer in France and an active promoter of "harm reduction", and Philip Morris International. This proximity illustrates the tobacco industry's new strategy: to spread an alternative scientific discourse and neutralize advances in public health.

Former president of the National Cancer Institute and former advisor to Chirac who led the first Cancer Plan in 2003, David Khayat is an emblematic figure of public health in the 2000s. A renowned oncologist, he is also behind the creation of the National Institute against Cancer (INCa), which he chaired between 2005 and 2006. Today, having ended his career in the public hospital, the cancer specialist continues his activity in his private clinic in the 16th arrondissement.

Making heated tobacco credible to public authorities

David Khayat, on the occasion of the release of his latest book "Stop Depriving Yourself", is the champion of risk reduction, and points out the failings of a society deemed to be demonstrating "hygienism" and imposing "new dictates". As the journalists mention, no mention is made by the cancer specialist of his parallel activity as a consultant for Philip Morris International. Indeed, the investigation reveals that in June 2018, on the occasion of a consultation of the Hong Kong public authorities on the regulation of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco, the contributions of Philip Morris and British American Tobacco were accompanied by a letter from David Khayat, certifying that he was convinced that heated tobacco is "significantly less dangerous than cigarettes". In France, the situation is similar: the journalists show that David Khayat praised the merits of heated tobacco to senators and deputies. At the end of 2020, several amendments sought to obtain tax relief on this new tobacco product. According to the newspaper, the links between the oncologist and the cigarette companies were not specified.

An artificially inflated resume

The investigation published by the newspaper Le Monde shows that the cancer specialist did not hesitate to usurp a certain number of honorary titles. In his CV, David Khayat presents himself as the "honorary president of INCa", while this function does not exist in the organization chart of the Institute. Similarly, Khayat is described as the "advisor to the director general of the World Health Organization in Geneva", when the WHO formally denies these claims.

David Khayat, the white coat as pseudoscientific guarantee

The support of a personality like David Khayat, or that of Derek Yach, former director of the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative, and now president of the Philip Morris Smoke-Free Foundation, constitutes, according to journalists from Le Monde, "a war prize" for the tobacco industry, which recovers the prestige and scientific credibility of these two emblematic figures of public health. However, today, no independent study has managed to demonstrate that the consumption of heated tobacco is accompanied by a reduction in risks.[1].