"It doesn't seem to make sense for a company that sells cigarettes to help smokers stop using them": A case study of Philip Morris's involvement in smoking cessation

The effect of price and tax policies on the decision to smoke among men in Kenya

AIMS

To assess the impact of cigarette prices on male smoking initiation and cessation in Kenya from 1960 to 2014.

DESIGN

Longitudinal study using individual level data from the 2014 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) and historical data on cigarette prices.

SETTING

Kenya.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 2079 men, among whom 619 identified as ever-smokers.

MEASUREMENTS

Self-reported data on the years of smoking initiation and cessation, merged with historical data on cigarette prices. We employed several methodologies to estimate the effect of prices on smoking transitions, including a pooled linear model with propensity score matching (PSM).

RESULTS

Price increases were negatively associated with smoking initiation, with price elasticity of initiation ranging from -0.03 (-0.066 to -0.000) to -0.14 (-0.216 to -0.0563). The association was two to three times larger for younger male adults compared with the average. Price increases were correlated with increased cessation for younger males, with a price elasticity of 0.08 (0.027-0.141) and for low-income males with a price elasticity of 0.16 (-0.752 to 0.429).

CONCLUSIONS

Cigarette price increases in Kenya between 1960 and 2014 were negatively associated with males' smoking initiation and positively associated with younger and lower-income males' cessation.

The tobacco endgame: The neglected role of place and environment

An increasing number of countries across the world are planning for the eradication of the tobacco epidemic. The actions necessary to realise this ambition have been termed the tobacco endgame. The focus of this paper is on the intersection between the tobacco endgame with place, a neglected theme in recent academic and policy debates. We begin with an overview of the key themes in the literature on endgame strategies before detailing the international landscape of engame initiatives, paying particular attention to the opportunities and challenges of endgame strategies in low and middle income countries. Finally, we critically assess the current endgame debates and suggest a novel agenda for integrating geographical perspectives into research on the endgame that provides enhanced understanding of the challenges associated with this important global health vision.

United Nations Global Compact: an 'Inroad' into the UN and reputation boost for the tobacco industry

BACKGROUND

The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), a UN initiative to engage corporations in supporting the UN's mission, sets out principles that companies should follow for more ethical business practices. Since its inception in 2000, at least 13 tobacco companies, subsidiaries and tobacco industry affiliates joined the UNGC. In a September 2017 integrity review, the UNGC Board excluded from UNGC participation companies who derive revenue from tobacco production or manufacturing.

OBJECTIVE

To determine, from the tobacco industry's perspective, tobacco companies' motives for joining the UNGC.

METHOD

Tobacco industry documents search using the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents Library, and search of published reports and documents on the tobacco industry and the UNGC.

RESULTS

Tobacco companies sought to join the UNGC for two reasons: (1) to improve their reputation, in keeping with other corporate social responsibility efforts; (2) to gain proximity to UN agencies and weaken the WHO's influence, part of an overall strategy to undermine the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

CONCLUSIONS

Excluding tobacco manufacturers from UNGC participation is an important step to limit the tobacco industry's ability to influence the UN and promote its image and, by extension, its deadly products. It is important to monitor enforcement of this policy and resist the engagement of tobacco industry front groups, such as industry-funded foundations, with the UNGC.