Assessing Tobacco Industry Influence on Tobacco Control in Telangana: Evidence from 2019-2022
Keywords:
Tobacco Industry Interference (TII), Tobacco Control, Article 5.3 FCTC, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Tobacco Regulation, TelanganaAbstract
Background: Tobacco use remains a pressing public health issue, compounded by the active interference from the tobacco industry. Such interference undermines the implementation of effective tobacco control measures in Telangana, a major tobacco-producing state in India.
Objective: This study aimed to document and analyze instances of tobacco industry interference (TII) in Telangana from 2019 to 2022, with a focus on understanding the strategies employed and their impact on public health policies.
Methods: A descriptive study design was adopted to identify and analyze 13 documented instances of the TII. Data were collected from news reports, social media, stakeholder interviews, and other sources. The nature of the interference was categorized, and patterns were analyzed to evaluate their impact on tobacco control initiatives.
Results: The majority (12 out of 13) of documented TII incidents were linked to corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities by ITC Limited, which aimed to shape public opinion and enhance a company’s image. Additionally, one instance of political influence was noted. Despite evident interference, no formal measures have been implemented to counteract these activities.
Conclusion: The findings highlight the urgent need for the enforcement of Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which protects public health policies from tobacco industry interference. Strengthened monitoring systems, transparent governance, and state-level implementation are critical for addressing these challenges and advancing tobacco control in Telangana.
Keywords: Tobacco Industry Interference (TII), Tobacco Control, Article 5.3 FCTC, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Tobacco Regulation, Telangana
Downloads
References
WHO_NMH_TFI_12.1_eng.pdf [Internet]. [cited 2022 Dec 2]. Available from: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/70894/WHO_NMH_TFI_12.1_eng.pdf
Assunta M, Ritthiphakdee B, Soerojo W, Cho MM, Jirathanapiwat W. Tobacco industry interference: A review of three South East Asian countries. Indian J Public Health. 2017 Sep;61(Suppl 1):S35–9.
Doku D. The tobacco industry tactics-a challenge for tobacco control in low and middle income countries. Afr Health Sci. 2010 Jun;10(2):201–3.
Code-of-Conduct-for-Public-Officials-6th-July.pdf [Internet]. [cited 2023 Jan 8]. Available from: http://smokelesstobaccocontrolindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Code-of-Conduct-for-Public-Officials-6th-July.pdf
Chugh A, Bassi S, Nazar G, Bhojani U, Alexander C, Lal P, et al. Tobacco Industry Interference Index: Implementation of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Article 5.3 in India. Asia Pac J Public Health. 2020 May 1;32(4):172–8.
Goel S, Kar SS, Verma M, Sivanantham P, Naik BN, Gupta D. Evidence on article 5.3 of FCTC (tobacco industry interference in tobacco control activities) in India- a qualitative scoping study. BMC Public Health. 2021 Oct 14;21(1):1855.
Global Tobacco Index 2021 [Internet]. Global Tobacco Index 2021. [cited 2022 Dec 4]. Available from: https://factsheets.globaltobaccoindex.org
Reporter S. DTC donates ?25 lakh to CMRF. The Hindu [Internet]. 2020 Apr 6 [cited 2022 Dec 4]; Available from: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/dtc-donates-25-lakh-to-cmrf/article31272382.ece
Sweney M. British American Tobacco working on plant-based coronavirus vaccine. The Guardian [Internet]. 2020 Apr 1 [cited 2022 Dec 4]; Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/apr/01/british-american-tobacco-plant-based-coronavirus-vaccine
Freeman B, Watts C, Astuti PAS Global tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship regulation: what’s old, what’s new and where to next? Tobacco Control 2022;31:216-221.
Mallya SD, Kulkarni MM, Kumar P, Nair V, Prabhath M. Strengthening tobacco control policies during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. Clin Epidemiol Glob Health. 2022;15:101057.
Information for “Globally Reported Tobacco Industry Interference during COVID-19 Pandemic – January 2022” - TobaccoUnmasked [Internet]. [cited 2022 Dec 5]. Available from: https://www.tobaccounmasked.com/index.php?title=Globally_Reported_Tobacco_Industry_Interference_during_COVID-19_Pandemic_%E2%80%93_January_2022&action=info
Kumar P, Kamath V, Kamath A, Bhojani U, Chugh A, Bassi S, et al. Implementation of Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: A Subnational Assessment. Indian J Community Med. 2022 Dec;47(4):531.
WHO Definitions of Tobacco Industry Tactics - TobaccoTactics [Internet]. [cited 2022 Dec 5]. Available from: https://tobaccotactics.org/wiki/who-definitions-of-tobacco-industry-tactics/
CSR Strategy - TobaccoTactics [Internet]. [cited 2022 Dec 5]. Available from: https://tobaccotactics.org/wiki/csr-strategy/
Friedman LC. Tobacco industry use of corporate social responsibility tactics as a sword and a shield on secondhand smoke issues. J Law Med Ethics J Am Soc Law Med Ethics. 2009;37(4):819–27.
Big Tobacco uses Corporate Social Responsibility Awards to polish its tarnished image [Internet]. ACOSH Website. 2021 [cited 2022 Dec 5]. Available from: https://www.acosh.org/big-tobacco-uses-corporate-social-responsibility-awards-polish-tarnished-image/
Sharma R, Lal P, Pandey A, Tripathi G. Stopping Tobacco Industry Interference (TII): bottom-up approach to achieve national policy on FCTC Article 5.3 in India. Tob Induc Dis [Internet]. 2018 Mar 1 [cited 2022 Dec 6];16(1). Available from: http://www.tobaccoinduceddiseases.org/Stopping-Tobacco-Industry-Interference-TII-bottom-up-approach-to-achieve-national,84378,0,2.html
Yadav A, Glantz SA. Tobacco industry thwarts ad ban legislation in India in the 1990s: Lessons for meeting FCTC obligations under Articles 13 and 5.3. Addict Behav. 2022 Jul 1;130:107306.
Zhang L, Ma Y, Men K, Li C, Zhang Z, Shi G. Tobacco smoke and all-cause mortality and premature death in China: a cohort study. BMC Public Health. 2023 Dec 12;23(1):2486.
Sweda Jr EL, Daynard RA. Tobacco industry tactics. British Medical Bulletin. 1996 Jan 1;52(1):183-92.
Bassi S, Ralston R, Arora M, Chugh A, Nazar GP, Collin J. Understanding the dynamics of notification and implementation of Article 5.3 across India’s states and union territories. Tobacco Control. 2022 Jun 1;31(Suppl 1):s18-25.
Published
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Sonu Goel, Rajesh Bharatiya, Rajeev Choudhary, Shravan Kumar
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
