OBJECTIVE To measure the implementation of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Article 5.3 at country level using a new Tobacco Industry Interference Index and to report initial results using this index in seven Southeast Asian countries. METHODS Score sheet based on WHO FCTC Article 5.3 Guidelines sent to correspondents in seven Southeast Asian countries, using a scoring syste...

This will not come as a great surprise to many readers, but it turns out that multinational tobacco companies are not generous, kind hearted or benevolent, and that any similarity they bear to boy scouts or fairy godmothers is dangerously misleading. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Conference of the Parties (COP), meeting last November in Durban, reminded us of these truths. ...

Background: The Japanese government is an important shareholder in the Japanese tobacco industry. Negotiations to develop the WHO’s historic Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) were based on consensus, resulting in countries needing to agree to the lowest acceptable common denominator in clause development. Objective: To illustrate Japan’s role in negotiating key optional language in...

The tobacco industry indicates that it does not advertise ih magazines that reach a high percentage of young people. To avoid reaching teens, current tobacco industry practice is to use circulation data to assess the number of young people who receive a magazine. Results from the reported study demonstrate that using circulation data is not an accurate method for estimating the size of the teen...

OBJECTIVES To examine the extensive research undertaken by the tobacco industry over the past 25 years toward development of a fire safe cigarette. METHODS Research was conducted through a web based search of internal tobacco industry documents made publicly available through the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement. RESULTS The documents reveal that the tobacco industry produced a fire safe ci...

OBJECTIVE To examine self service tobacco displays (SSTDs) and youth retail tobacco access by comparing longitudinal illegal tobacco sales rates in three communities in Santa Barbara County, California, that considered or implemented ordinances banning SSTDs. A confirmatory survey was also conducted to substantiate the longitudinal data. DESIGN A longitudinal case study design was utilised. F...

BACKGROUND Among all racial and ethnic groups in the USA, African Americans bear the greatest burden from tobacco related disease. The tobacco industry has been highly influential in the African American community for decades, providing funding and other resources to community leaders and emphasising publicly its support for civil rights causes and groups, while ignoring the negative health eff...

OBJECTIVES This report describes the history, true goals, and effects of tobacco industry-sponsored youth smoking prevention programs. METHODS We analyzed previously-secret tobacco industry documents. RESULTS The industry started these programs in the 1980s to forestall legislation that would restrict industry activities. Industry programs portray smoking as an adult choice and fail to disc...

AIMS This article outlines how the tobacco industry has undermined tobacco control efforts in Lebanon since the early 1970s. METHODS An analysis of online and on-site tobacco industry documents, reviews of newspapers, policy and other documents, and interviews with key policy makers were conducted. RESULTS Findings reveal how the weakness of tobacco control legislation in Lebanon has been t...