Joanna Cohen and Simon Chapman Does the control of one pandemic justify the promotion of another? The news of a new COVID-19 vaccine collaboration between Philip Morris International and the Government of Canada has set off alarm bells in the tobacco control community. The vaccine developer at the middle of the controversy—Quebec-based Medicago Inc.—is owned […]
Category: Funding
GLOBAL TOBACCO INDUSTRY INTERFERENCE INDEX HIGHLIGHTS CSR AND LACK OF TRANSPARENCY
Mary Assunta Many governments found themselves between a rock and a hard place during the COVID-19 pandemic when offered donations of goods and funds by the tobacco industry. However, opening the door to the tobacco industry’s charity also paves the way to a relationship that the industry will exploit to further its business. A collaborative […]
Philip Morris Smoke Free Foundation: questions about independence and transparency, while top universities distance themselves
Seventeen universities in Canada and the USA have issued a joint statement that they will not accept funding from, or pursue work with, the Philip Morris International (PMI)-funded ‘Foundation for a Smoke Free World’. The statement echoes concerns previously raised by the World Health Organization and other public health groups and leaders, stating: “If Philip […]
Indonesia: court upholds tobacco tax to fund health
Abdillah Ahsan Faculty of Economics, University of Indonesia Good news on tobacco control from Indonesia is rare. Recently, however there was a victory in the area of tobacco tax. On 1 January 2014, Law No. 28 of 2009 on regional taxes was introduced, which allows local provinces in Indonesia to charge a local tax to […]
Tobacco Control policy on publishing research to inform regulation
An important message from the Editor, Ruth Malone on the Tobacco Control policy regarding publishing papers based on data submitted to regulatory agencies: The rapid growth of funding for research to inform tobacco regulation in the United States and elsewhere has raised issues about how the journal handles materials that may have been submitted to […]
Polluter pays – increasing funding for global tobacco control
In the August 2010 issue of Tobacco Control, Cynthia Callard wrote an enlightening article on just how uneven the playing field is in tobacco control. She compared the 2008 total revenues of the five major tobacco companies that control 90% of the global market as compared to the total amount spent on global tobacco control. The […]