Tobacco industry denormalization — the strategy of educating people about the predatory behavior of the tobacco industry — is used in many high income states and countries. Now, Roengrudee Patanavanich and I have published “Awareness of tobacco industry tactics among tobacco control communities in Thailand and its association with attitudes towards tobacco industry and perceptions of e-cigarettes” that assesses awareness of the tobacco companies’ tactics in the middle income country Thailand and how awareness of industry behavior affects knowledge and attitudes of tobacco control and public health officials there.
As our paper states,
The tobacco industry has historically employed a wide range of tactics to interfere with tobacco control including political lobbying, financing research, manipulating media, discrediting scientific research, interfering in the regulatory process and engaging in public relations, including so-called corporate social responsibility campaigns. WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Articles 5.3 and 12 strongly encourage parties to raise public awareness about the tobacco industry’s deceitful tactics and practices. This approach, known as tobacco industry denormalisation, presents the tobacco industry’s actions as abnormal and unacceptable, in society and to the economy. In addition to being affected by a dangerous product addiction, tobacco control advocates argue that people who smoke are victims of tobacco industry tactics. [citations deleted]
We surveyed three groups of people:
We surveyed three groups working in tobacco control in Thailand: (1) tobacco control advocates funded by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, (2) appointed experts of the Provincial Tobacco Products Control Committee (established by the Tobacco Products Control Act of 2017 to improve law enforcement on tobacco product control) and (3) provincial tobacco control program managers.
Awareness of tobacco industry tactics among Thai tobacco control advocates was comparable to high income counties regarding industry support of front groups, employing consultants, direct political funding, and lobbying. Perhaps reflecting high levels of industry activity in these areas, Thais were more aware of industry corporate social responsibility strategies, other public relations’ tactics, and exploiting free trade. The one tactic that Thais were less aware of than in higher income countries was the tobacco industry’s intimidation tactics.
Importantly, we found that awareness of tobacco industry tactics was associated with more negative attitudes towards the tobacco industry in general and e-cigarettes in particular.
Attitudes towards tobacco industry tactics and perceptions of e-cigarettes differed between different roles in Thai tobacco control. Generally, tobacco control advocates working for
civil society supported by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation were more aware of tobacco industry tactics and had less favorable perceptions of e-cigarettes than experts of the Provincial Tobacco Products Control Committee and public health officials who worked in provincial tobacco control programs.
Our findings reinforce the importance of educating people involved in all roles and at all levels about the industry’s behavior in order to continue to advance tobacco control policies.
Here is the abstract:
Background: Tobacco industry denormalisation is a key strategy recommended by the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control as it is associated with reducing smoking behaviours and positively influencing public and policymakers’ opinion towards tobacco control. However, studies of awareness of tobacco industry tactics among public health players and policymakers in low-income and middle-income countries are limited.
Methods: We conducted an online survey of individuals who had been involved in tobacco control in Thailand. Multivariate ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between awareness of tobacco industry tactics and different attitudes towards tobacco industry and perceptions towards e-cigarettes, controlling for role in tobacco control and demographics among 441 respondents.
Results: Of the respondents, 11.3% had never heard of any tobacco industry tactics, whereas 11.1% had heard of all tactics asked in the survey. Tobacco industry tactics which were less known by participants were intimidation (30.6%) and illicit trade (37.4%). Participants who were more aware of tobacco industry tactics were more likely to have negative attitudes towards the tobacco industry and e-cigarettes. Compared with active experts of the Provincial Tobacco Products Control Committee and provincial public health officials who work in tobacco control programmes, advocates who worked for civil society organisations in tobacco control were more aware of tobacco industry tactics and had less favourable perceptions of e-cigarettes.
Conclusion: This study emphasises the importance of educating public health professionals and policymakers about tobacco industry behaviour, especially in the era of e-cigarettes.
The full citation is: Patanavanich R, Glantz S. Awareness of tobacco industry tactics among tobacco control communities in Thailand and its association with attitudes towards tobacco industry and perceptions of e-cigarettes. Tob Control. 2024 Apr 18:tc-2023-058501. doi: 10.1136/tc-2023-058501. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38637148. It is available here.
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