News Releases

Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announced today that it will implement new initiatives with the goal of reducing the smoking rate of employees to zero by 2023, in order to protect the health of all employees, their families, and the people around them.

This is in line with the company's awareness and responsibility of, and close involvement with human life and whose main business area is the field of oncology.

Taiho Pharmaceutical announced its Health Pledge^*1 in February 2017. On the 22nd of every month, which the Tobacco Control Medical-Dental Research Network^*2 promotes as “No Tobacco Day,” the company has been conducting awareness-raising activities, such as disseminating information about the harmful effects of cigarettes to all employees, and posting no smoking posters at each business site. As a result, smoking rates have shown a moderate decline, reaching a company-wide smoking rate of 15%, according to an internal survey conducted in 2020.

In order to achieve a smoking rate of zero in 2023, in fiscal 2020 Taiho launched company-wide initiatives to help employees quit smoking, including smoking cessation support for employees that smoke, strengthening and thoroughly implementing internal rules regarding no smoking. It also considers that being a non-smoker as one of the requirements for new hires and promotions at the managerial level.

The main measures are as given below. The company will roll them out sequentially going forward.

• Subsidy for smoking cessation outpatient expenses (including online sessions) for all applicants

　Smoking cessation outpatient services (covered by health insurance): At the point deemed successful, all out-of-pocket expenses will be subsidized by the company.

　Company-designated online smoking cessation services (not covered by health insurance): Users can see a doctor with a one-time out-of-pocket fee of 10,000 yen, regardless of the number of online visits.

• Sharing tips to quit smoking from employees who successfully quit

• No smoking at all during working hours
• All-day ban on smoking in all laboratory and factory areas

• Being a non-smoker to be a condition for new hires
• Being a non-smoker to be one of the factors to be considered at the time of promotion to managerial positions

• Regular implementation of tobacco use survey and dissemination of various information to all employees

Taiho Pharmaceutical will continue to protect the health of its employees by providing support in many ways to enable employees, who are important human resources for the company, to work energetically in a free-spirited manner, in keeping with its corporate philosophy: “We strive to improve human health and contribute to a society enriched by smiles.”

*1 Taiho Pharmaceutical’s Health Pledge: https://www.taiho.co.jp/en/company/philosophy/
*2 Tobacco Control Medical-Dental Research Network: http://kinennohi.jp/network/index.html (Japanese only)