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Philip Morris International (PMI), considered to be the world’s largest tobacco company (excluding the National Tobacco Corporation of China), is a company that allows the industry to make money by “posing as a generous donor and concealing involvement through third parties.” They say they have gained trust in the science they provide. Newly published research that has undergone peer review.
This study just frontier of communication Under the title ‘British public trust in the tobacco industry’s involvement in science – an experimental study’.
PMI sells products in more than 180 countries around the world and is the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, its best-selling and most recognized product.
The paper was co-authored by researchers from the Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG) at the University of Bath, the University of Colorado and the University of Bristol.
“Since the 1950s, the tobacco industry has used science to create doubt and ignorance (or ‘ignorance generation’) about the harms of smoking and the effectiveness of regulation,” they write. “When faced with evidence that smoking causes cancer, tobacco companies fund their own science and work with public relations experts to deflect attention from the industry’s harms, turning them into self-serving critics.” He portrayed himself as a “dedicated participant” in a scientific enterprise rather than at home. Independent scientific organizations that claim to be industry-funded obscure the link between tobacco and health problems.
PMI launched a new “scientific organization” in 2017 called the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW), publicly declaring that it had transformed into a transparent organization that funds solid science. On May 13, 2024, FSFW rebranded itself as Global Action to End Smoking, at a time when they were trying to sell as many toxic cigarettes as possible around the world.
Understanding public trust
This new survey aims to understand the extent to which the public trusts PMI’s involvement in science and whether channeling funds through the third-party agency FSFW has affected trust in PMI’s science. purpose. A total of 1,580 UK residents were asked to rate their confidence in PMI, FSFW or Cancer Research UK (CRUK) on a scale of 1 (not at all) to 7 (completely). The Cancer Research Organization (UK), which funds scientists, doctors and nurses who beat cancer early and keep the public informed about cancer, is a highly It was chosen as a control group because it is a trusted scientific organization.
Researchers found that overall confidence in PMI was 4.66 on a scale of 1 (no confidence) to 7 (full confidence), compared to 5.79 out of 7 in CRUK, indicating that We found that they showed moderate levels of trust.
The overall trust rating for FSFW was 5.04 out of 7. After participants were informed that FSFW received funding from the tobacco industry, the overall trust rating decreased to 4.77 out of 7. This suggests that when research is funded through a third-party scientific organization such as FSFW, people are more likely to trust the science it publishes.
Dr Tess Legg, a research fellow at the University of Bath’s School of Health Sciences and lead author of the paper, said: ‘Tobacco companies use their involvement in science as ‘evidence’ that they are a trusted research institution, so this Research is important.” They also raise research funding through third-party companies, which has historically included attempts to obscure their involvement in the resulting science. ”
Until now, Legg said, there was no clear understanding of whether and to what extent these two strategies would work to build trust in the industry and its science. “This study is the first in the UK to seek quantitative evidence of how effective these tactics are in getting people to trust the tobacco industry and its science.”
The study’s authors warned against continued acceptance of funding and dissemination of scientific knowledge from the tobacco industry. They are calling for more efforts to educate the public about the sophisticated and harmful tactics these industries employ.
“As it stands, the risk is high that the FSFW will continue to promote industry interests as it still has significant funds at its disposal from PMI,” Legg continued. “Our findings will help the British public understand how despicable the tobacco industry’s rebranding attempts really are, and stop science front groups from giving the industry air and muddying the waters. This suggests that more needs to be done by the tobacco control and public health communities to ensure “credibility.” ”
The findings, while not particularly enjoyable reading for those of us seeking to counter strategies used by the tobacco industry, provide a quantitative understanding of the impact that strategies used by the industry to influence science are having. That’s important,” Legg declared. .
Adding to this, “At a time when the tobacco industry continues its abhorrent attempts to instill science as part of its ‘pseudo-reform,’ we must continue to work to reform science so that it serves the public interest.” We need to concentrate our efforts.”
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