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Towards a smoke-free world? Philip Morris International's new Foundation is not credible

2017; Elsevier BV; Volume: 390; Issue: 10104 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0140-6736(17)32561-8

1474-547X

Mike Daube, Rob Moodie, Martin McKee,

Cardiovascular Health and Risk Factors

Smoking causes more than 7 million deaths each year 1 WHOTobacco fact sheet. World Health Organization, Geneva2017http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs339/en/ Google Scholar and tobacco companies have known, since at least 1950, that their products are lethal and addictive. Now Philip Morris International (PMI) is committing nearly US$1 billion over 12 years to the Philip Morris Foundation for a Smoke-Free World that will “fund scientific research designed to eliminate the use of smoked tobacco around the globe”. 2 Boseley S Tobacco company launches foundation to stub out smoking. The Guardian. Sept 13, 2017; Google Scholar In a Lancet Viewpoint in this issue, the Foundation's President Derek Yach argues it will support “an unswerving focus…to improve public health and human wellbeing”. 3 Yach D Foundation for a smoke-free world. Lancet. 2017; 390: 1807-1810 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (27) Google Scholar What should we make of this? Tobacco control: a Foundation too far?Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable mortality worldwide and is responsible for more than 7 million deaths each year. In today's issue of The Lancet, we publish a Viewpoint describing the mission and goals of the recently established Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, funded by tobacco giant Philip Morris International. Led by former WHO executive director Derek Yach, the Foundation, whose aim is “to eliminate cigarette smoking worldwide”, will receive US$1 billion in funding over the next 12 years. Full-Text PDF Condemning industry attempts to subvert public policy for a tobacco-free worldThe World Heart Federation, alongside its partners in the Global Coalition for Circulatory Health, condemns outright the launch of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World,1 which is a vehicle for the tobacco industry. Full-Text PDF Foundation for a smoke-free worldThe current and future health effects of smoking are well described. More than 7 million deaths per year are attributable to smoking, and projections suggest 1 billion deaths this century.1 Over a decade ago, in my role to facilitate the establishment of WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), I warned about the potential for complacency in the years following the FCTC's adoption.2 We knew that implementation of the FCTC would take decades, and that it would be challenged from the outset by constrained funding, shifting priorities and political will, weak human and institutional capacity, and continuing opposition from the tobacco industry. Full-Text PDF Nuclear war and public health: rebalancing priorities and global health leadershipRecently, the North Korean nuclear and missile crisis has gripped international media headlines.1 In the streets of Seoul, the vast majority of civilians remain remarkably calm, confident that this threat will pass like those of the past. Yet, complacency would not serve an excuse in the face of war by either intention or tragic miscalculation. By then, the silence of the global health community will likely be seen as an opportunity missed. Why does it remain silent? Perhaps the community feels out of its depth in an area of competence of the UN Security Council—surely they must know what they are doing? Full-Text PDF