| Summary: | Background
To monitor the strategies of
the tobacco industry against public tobacco control policies in Brazil.
Methods
Documentary research with
survey of documents available at the Observatory on Tobacco Industry Strategies,
in Brazil, of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation of Brazil's Ministry of Health.
Documents refering to tobacco industry's financing to brazilian parlamentarians
in 2014 elections campains were collected. The documents were analyzed based on
the strategy Influencing Decision Makers, described in the WHO document entitled
Tobacco Industry Interference with Tobacco Control.
Results
88 documents were found. The
analysis showed that of 35 political parties existing in Brazil, the tobacco
industry financed 13 of several ideological segments. Of the parliamentarians contemplated,
88 are pro-tobacco, being that 79 of them received funding from the tobacco
industry for election campaigns and have been opposing smoking control policies,
preventing or hindering the progress of the guidelines. The value declared by
the industry was R$ 2,337,892.20.
Conclusions
In Brazil there is industry interference
in the government, which culminated in the creation of the Chamber of the
Tobacco Production Chain, linked to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and
Supply, contributing to the strengthening of tobacco industries, promotion of
their products and Politicians who have declared themselves against bills that
address the following issues: prohibition of cigarette advertising, additives
that confer flavor and aroma, standardization of cigarette packaging and
traffic violation of smoking in vehicles with passengers under eighteen years
of age, amongst other measures.
Unfortunately, the number of
politicians who prevent the advance of public health in the fight against
smoking is greater, which demonstrates how influential the tobacco industry is
to make its interests prevail by strengthening an apparatus permeated by
instruments and agents capable of erecting a real institutional blockade structure
that works in favor of the companies in fields of political, economic and social action.
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