Tobacco Industry Accountability - Current Practices, Emerging Issues and Challenges

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About this Research Topic

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Background

Health-compromising behaviors, including the use of tobacco, can have a significant and detrimental impact on public health worldwide. Each year, tobacco kills more than 8 million people globally, as a result of both direct tobacco use as well as exposure to second-hand smoke. Previous strategies employed by the tobacco industry have been perceived to impair government efforts to protect public health against the global tobacco epidemic.

It is essential for governments to adopt comprehensive policy in line with Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). WHO FCTC requires that: “In setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to tobacco control, parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law”. Some countries, particularly throughout Europe, have better addressed and prevailed over tobacco industry interference as well as achieved advancements in tobacco control. However, many remain behind in effective implementation of measures and strategies pertaining to tobacco industry interference, and therefore behind in protecting the health of their communities.

This Research Topic welcomes scientific research that addresses the diverse spheres of tobacco control and show the efforts of public health advocates and government(s) to address the accountability that lies with the tobacco industry. The Research Topic will also serve to highlight the emerging issues and challenges faced by various countries at the different levels (global, regional, national, sub-national) for implementing WHO FCTC measures. The Topic Editors hope to capture and share successful progress and practices that have served to change the current economic and business narrative of the tobacco industry, with the goal to achieve wider dissemination and replication. Additionally, this Research Topic wishes to explore the relationship between the tobacco industry with health and non-health stakeholders including finance, industry, commerce and trade, agriculture and labor.

Contributions (original research, case studies, commentary, brief reports, policy narratives and systematic reviews) in following thematic areas are welcomed into this collection:
-Tobacco industry policies in LMICs;
-Novel products - Novel marketing;
-Tobacco industry Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) - The Social Dichotomy;
-Research gaps in LMICs to support tobacco industry monitoring and evaluation;
-Monitoring and evaluation of tobacco industry interference;
-Adoption and implementation of WHO FCTC Article 5.3;
-Good practices on mitigating tobacco industry interference;
-Social media and tobacco industry interference;
-Targeting the vulnerable - youth, gender and poor;
-Policy response - gaps and challenges;
-Impact of regulatory policies on health outcomes.

Keywords: WHO FCTC Article 5.3, Conflict of Interest, Monitoring and Evaluation, Tobacco Industry Interference, Tobacco Advertising Promotion and Sponsorships, Corporate Social Responsibility, Public Health Policy, Decision-making, Health Behaviors, Impact Analysis, Tobacco Economics

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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