The Tobacco Products Research Trust 1982-1996

71 I would strongly recommend this book as an historical reference text for all Obstetrician and Gynaecologist' s shelves. It is a fascinating book into which to dip and browse and to quote Baskett' s quotation of Sir Isaac Newton: "If I have seen farther ... it is by standing on the shoulders of giants". In these days of political correctness when admitting links to the tobacco industry would be as unpopular as admitting links to the fur trade it would seem to be the height of folly to bring out a book outlining the history of research funded by that industry. But it is always a mistake back-projecting present day culture, morality and ethics. After all, the Trust grew out of a voluntary agreement between the Tobacco Industry and the then recently elected Thatcher Government at a time when private industry was popular and research funds were scarce. However, this book is too dry and factual to reflect any controversy at that time or since. It is better read as a straightforward factual account of the Trust and the 37 research projects which it funded in the 14 years of its existence. Presumably the sponsors hoped the Trust would demonstrate a beneficial effect on smokers' health of the alterations to tobacco products then being researched by the industry. This narrow focus was gradually broadened because the research began too late, after tar yields of the commonly-smoked cigarettes had already fallen. The authors' writing is too matter of fact to suggest any difficulties there may have been in persuading the industry to fund research into more tricky areas. One could only guess at the effort and discussions that may have gone on at the time. There is no hint in the few throwaway lines, for instance, of tensions because the remit of the Trust excluded the study of passive smoking. The Government's own independent Scientific Committee on Smoking and Health was forced to fund the studies on this important subject independently. Brief mention is made that some of the projects may have touched on this but only as a side objective of the research. Most people will presumably read the summaries of the projects in this book as a background to planned future research. Research into any subject is a matter of incremental steps and each project should be evaluated on its own scientific basis, not on its funding. Indeed, …