Exposing and Addressing Tobacco Industry Conduct in Low-Income and Middle-Income Countries

Document Type

Article

Language

eng

Format of Original

15 p.

Publication Date

3-14-2015

Publisher

Elsevier Inc.

Source Publication

Lancet

Source ISSN

0140-6736

Original Item ID

DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60312-9

Abstract

The tobacco industry's future depends on increasing tobacco use in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), which face a growing burden of tobacco-related disease, yet have potential to prevent full-scale escalation of this epidemic. To drive up sales the industry markets its products heavily, deliberately targeting non-smokers and keeps prices low until smoking and local economies are sufficiently established to drive prices and profits up. The industry systematically flaunts existing tobacco control legislation and works aggressively to prevent future policies using its resource advantage to present highly misleading economic arguments, rebrand political activities as corporate social responsibility, and establish and use third parties to make its arguments more palatable. Increasingly it is using domestic litigation and international arbitration to bully LMICs from implementing effective policies and hijacking the problem of tobacco smuggling for policy gain, attempting to put itself in control of an illegal trade in which there is overwhelming historical evidence of its complicity. Progress will not be realised until tobacco industry interference is actively addressed as outlined in Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Exemplar LMICs show this action can be achieved and indicate that exposing tobacco industry misconduct is an essential first step.

This is the third in a Series of three papers about a tobacco-free world

Comments

Accepted version. Lancet, Vol 385, No. 9972 (March 14, 2015): pg. 1029-1043. DOI. © 2015 Elsevier. Used with permission.

NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Lancet. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Lancet, Vol 385, No. 9972 (March 14, 2015): pg. 1029-1043. DOI.

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