Tobacco firm undermined secondhand smoke policy in China
Tobacco firm undermined secondhand smoke policy in China
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Tuesday, 23, Dec 2008 07:55
A leading tobacco firm carried out an extensive strategy aimed at undermining the health police agenda on secondhand smoke (SHS) in China, research claims.
A report published in the journal PLoS Medicine today claims that British American Tobacco (BAT) attempted to divert attention away from SHS issues toward liver disease prevention.
Researchers claim BAT promoted a so-called "resocialisation of smoking" drive using "accommodation efforts", referring to the strategy of lobbying for separate seating for smokers and nonsmokers and promoting ineffective ventilation and air filtration technology for hospitality venues.
Last year the Chinese ministry of health estimated some 540 million Chinese people were exposed to SHS, resulting in 100,000 deaths each year.
And experts claim the only way to reduce tobacco smoke exposure indoors is the implementation of smoke-free environments.
Today's report claims one method BAT used to divert attention away from SHS issues was the funding of the Beijing Liver Foundation (BLF) from 1997 to 2002.
The authors claim the tobacco company sought to present the message that smoke is an insignificant source of air pollution compared with other pollutants.
They recommend that policymakers in China should be aware of how BAT and other tobacco companies have repeatedly sought to influence health policy in China by focusing attention on the adoption of ineffective air filtration and ventilation systems in hospitality venues rather than the implementation of 100 per cent smoke-free environments.
"Chinese policymakers and the media, need to be better informed of BAT's decade-long initiative to communicate misleading messages on the health effects of SHS," they claim.
Another study published in the journal today claims a scientists from the tobacco company Philip Morris was able to gain access to a World Health Organisation (WHO) collaborating centre in Thailand.
The Chulabhorn Research Institute (CRI) is an internationally renowned teaching institution for a variety of scientific disciplines, including environmental toxicology - the study of how chemicals in the environment, such as tobacco smoke, can affect human health.
The report claims the Philip Morris scientist was able to use the links with the institute to influence the study and teaching of environmental toxicology in the institute.
This helped him develop relations with key officials and local scientists so as to advance the interests of the tobacco company within Thailand and across Asia, it adds.
The authors managed to establish such details after company details were made publicly available online following litigation in the US.
The CRI is headed by Professor Dr Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn, the daughter of the King of Thailand, making criticism a tricky option.
"While sensitivities surrounding royal patronage of the CRI make public criticism extremely difficult indications of ongoing involvement by tobacco industry consultants suggest the need for detailed scrutiny of such relationships," the authors claim.
Researchers claim the link between Philip Morris and the CRI found in their study raises the possibility that the tobacco industry is managing to influence medical research and teaching at an academic institution allied with the WHO.
The WHO has stated that a "firewall" is in place between itself and the tobacco industry.
But the authors of today's study argue that said "firewall" was not impenetrable.