The tobacco industry's self-interested generosity in Switzerland
Taking advantage of permissive legislation, the tobacco industry has forged many partnerships with cultural and social organisations in Switzerland. Theatres, museums, humanitarian and environmental associations receive donations that appear to be offered generously and without counterpart.
Tobacco prevention is part of a wider effort to defend human rights, in particular the rights to health and a healthy environment, as well as the rights of children. Although the link between the tobacco industry and human rights violations is still not widely recognised, it is gaining in importance in the public debate. The human rights approach can strengthen the fight against the tobacco epidemic, spread and maintained by the tobacco industry, particularly in Switzerland.
This study explores the many new marketing methods, including the vast social network field, which offer the tobacco corporations countless opportunities to promote their products while aiming them at everyone – adolescents and non-smokers included.
In 2012, Australia plays a pioneering role in smoking prevention, becoming the first country to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes. Fearing that this example would spread like wildfire, the tobacco industry, led by Philip Morris, launches a worldwide campaign against the measure, using every means at its disposal.
The aim of "Transparency and Truth" is to shed light on the causes of the smoking epidemic and what is preventing it from being curbed in Switzerland. The information on this site is intended to act as a vaccine: once you've read it, you'll be able to identify attempts to influence you when you're exposed to them.
Vingt ans après avoir signé la Convention-cadre de l’OMS pour la lutte antitabac, la Suisse n’a pas ratifié ce traité et reste en retard sur la prévention. Sous l’influence des cigarettiers, le pays privilégie les intérêts économiques, avec des mesures jugées insuffisantes, tandis que 20 000 jeunes tombent chaque année dans l’addiction. Hugo Molineaux, chercheur pour OxySuisse, était notre invité.
Die Tabakindustrie spendet Millionen an Hilfswerke. Auch verschiedene Rotkreuz-Organisationen haben über Jahre Geld von Tabakfirmen angenommen – und das, obwohl das Rote Kreuz auch eine Gesundheitsorganisation ist. Erst 2021 hat der Rotkreuz-Rat entschieden, keine Tabak-Spenden mehr anzunehmen.
Im Wallis dürfen Tabakfirmen keine Musikfestivals sponsern. Trotzdem war British American Tobacco am Caprices Festival präsent. Die Beobachter-Recherche zeigt die Hintergründe.
If you ever find yourself browsing the galleries at the British Museum in London, or wandering the halls of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, you might find it surprising that the art you’re admiring is sponsored in part by an industry that causes 8 million deaths every year.
Bangkok, 29 April 2024 – The tobacco industry is using corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities as a tactical smokescreen to clean its tarnished public image and distract the public from its deadly and harmful business, according to the report, “Lifting the Veil of Tobacco Industry’s Corporate Charity in ASEAN” by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA). The report examines the detrimental impact of the industry’s CSR activities on public health policy.
“The opioid crisis is horrific. It has been estimated that prescription opioids have killed more than more than 200,000 Americans and 47,000 lives are expected to be lost in 2019 due to opioid addiction. No similar outrage has been expressed by artists, health organizations or the public at the most dominant corporate sponsor of the arts in the United States over the past 60 years, Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris and makers of the top-selling cigarette brand Marlboro.”
-Alan Blum, MD
Transparency and Truth is part of the children and youth program Free. Fair. Future. and is funded by the Tobacco Prevention Fund (TPF).
Free. Fair. Future. pursues the vision that children and young people in Switzerland lead a life without tobacco and nicotine.
The program finances measures that put children and young people at the center and links all new and existing players in tobacco prevention.
Instead of relying on classic prevention measures, Free. Fair. Future. focuses on a holistic view of life and invites the entire civil society - especially children and adolescents - to implement their own ideas and projects to protect our young generation.
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