SEATCA Philippines/Bangkok, 20 November 2020
These are the main findings of a civil society report launched today, the Tobacco Industry Interference Index: Implementation of Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in ASEAN Countries, 2020. The seventh in a yearly series by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA), the index gauges how governments are protecting tobacco control policies from the commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.
“Even during this pandemic, the tobacco industry is still using its money to buy lawyers, politicians, scientists, journalists, and public relations firms to whitewash its business of addiction and harm to give it a semblance of legitimacy and normalcy. This report shines the light on tobacco industry misconduct and how governments are succeeding or failing to stop industry influence and interference in policy development and implementation; unfortunately, many are failing,” said Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo, executive director of SEATCA.
The 2020 comparative report provides a historical view of country scores for the last 5 years to measure progress or deterioration in each government’s capacity to resist tobacco industry interference; it also describes the similarity of tobacco industry tactics across countries and across time. Overall, Brunei and Thailand have been steadily progressing, with Myanmar and Vietnam showing the most improvement, while Malaysia and the Philippines have deteriorated over the years. Indonesia and Lao PDR are lagging behind all other ASEAN countries.
Other key findings of the report:
- Industry interference to prevent a ban or effective regulation of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam.
- Tobacco-sponsored corporate social responsibility activities remain a pervasive platform to ensnare government as a partner and to gain access to top-level government officers.
- Government officials interact unnecessarily with the tobacco industry by participating in tobacco industry-led initiatives that provide opportunities for engagement and partnerships that can impact public policies.
- Lack of transparency in disclosing government interactions with the tobacco industry remains a substantial problem.
- Most countries are progressing with preventive measures to isolate tobacco industry intereference as part of good housekeeping and governance in line with Article 5.3, however, stronger monitoring and enforcement systems are needed to improve implementation of these measures.
An expanded Asian version of the report (covering 18 countries) was also launched today by SEATCA, while the an expanded Global Tobacco Industry Interference Report (covering 57 countries) was launched by STOP (Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products) earlier this week.
Original source can be found here.
