Experts at the Advocacy Center “Life” and the Anti-Corruption Headquarters analyzed connections between public officials and tobacco companies.
The purpose of the interactive infographic “Tobacco Industry Connections” is to present to the public the documented activities and the use of statuses of Members of Parliament, public officials, and civil society organizations in the interests of the tobacco industry, contrary to public interest and Ukraine’s international obligations.
Key forms of such interference include:
The infographic materials cover the period of 2024. However, for individuals who have long acted in the interests of the tobacco industry, earlier actions are also presented to provide a better understanding of the tobacco industry’s interference.
Methodology. The infographic reflects actions of the identified actors in the interests of the tobacco industry that are inconsistent with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), in particular the Guidelines for Implementation of Article 5.3, as well as applicable legislation. Public statements, media comments, initiated and supported regulations, bills, activities, decisions, letters, appeals, parliamentary assistants, family members’ conflicts of interest, ownership structures, and voting behavior were analyzed.
The interactive infographic was developed by the teams of the Advocacy Center “Life” and the NGO “Anti-Corruption Headquarter”, both of which declare no connections to the tobacco industry or individuals associated with it.
The tobacco epidemic is one of the greatest threats to human health the world has ever faced. Every year, tobacco kills over 8 million peopleworldwide, of whom 1.3 million are non-smokers and victims of secondhand smoke. According to the WHO, tobacco prematurely claims the lives of about half of its users.
Given the level of the tobacco threat, 183 countries have ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Ukraine is among them, having joined the Convention in 2006 by adopting Law № 3534-15. The country has been gradually implementing the provisions of the FCTC into domestic legislation (Law No.2899), which explicitly establishes the priority of public health policy over financial, tax, and corporate interests of persons associated with the tobacco industry.
A critically important provision of the WHO FCTC is Article 5.3, which requires States to protect public health policies from the influence of commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry. The Guidelines for the implementation of Article 5.3 emphasize: “There is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry’s interests and public health policy interests. The tobacco industry produces and promotes a product that has been proven scientifically to be addictive, to cause disease and death and to give rise to a variety of social ills, including increased poverty. Therefore, Parties should protect the formulation and implementation of public health policies for tobacco control from the tobacco industry to the greatest extent possible”.
Despite this, in pursuit of profits, the tobacco industry continues to attempt to interfere in public health policy. To achieve this, the tobacco industry exploits any available avenues, including unscrupulous Members of Parliament, public officials, and non-governmental organizations.
