Governments Must Short Circuit Tobacco Industry ’s Pervasive Tactics

This report card ranked countries according to their efforts in protecting public health policies. Japan, Jordan, Egypt and Bangladesh are among those that scored the highest in the level of tobacco industry influence, which means weaker resistance of governments from industry meddling, while the United Kingdom, Uganda and Iran lead in protecting health policy from industry meddling. The ranking is based on civil society reports from 33 countries covering about 70% of the world population. The Global Tobacco Index is released by the STOP (Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products) project. Key global findings • Transparency matters. Countries fared better when they were more transparent about their interactions with the industry, including recording meetings or any donations and FOI regimes. Political contributions and gifts from the tobacco industry are banned in Brazil, Canada, France, Iran, Myanmar, Turkey, U.K., Uganda and Uruguay. Among the countries surveyed, transparency on political contributions is required only in Kenya and the U.S. • Wooing senior government officials was rampant across countries. Tobacco companies targeted departments of finance, commerce and trade to achieve policy influence. They even used frivolous awards to access and obtain endorsement from senior officials. • Tax breaks benefitted the industry in many countries. Many governments still consider the tobacco industry’s business portfolio as a major economic driver and grant the indu...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Development & Aid Economy & Trade Environment Featured Global Headlines Health TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news