RESEARCH PAPER

"Care and feeding": the Asian environmental tobacco smoke consultants programme

M Assunta, N Fields, J Knight and S Chapman

School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Mary Assunta
School of Public Health, Room 129A, Edward Ford Building (A27), University of Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia; marya{at}health.usyd.edu.au

Study objective: To review the tobacco industry’s Asian environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) consultants programme, focusing on three key nations: China, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.

Methods: Systematic keyword and opportunistic website searches of formerly private internal industry documents.

Main results: The release of the 1986 US Surgeon General’s report on second hand smoke provoked tobacco companies to prepare for a major threat to their industry. Asian programme activities included conducting national/international symposiums, consultant "road shows" and extensive lobbying and media activities. The industry exploited confounding factors said to be unique to Asian societies such as diet, culture and urban pollution to downplay the health risks of ETS. The industry consultants were said to be "...prepared to do the kinds of things they were recruited to do".

Conclusions: The programme was successful in blurring the science on ETS and keeping the controversy alive both nationally and internationally. For the duration of the project, it also successfully dissuaded national policy makers from instituting comprehensive bans on smoking in public places.

Abbreviations: AAOH, Asian Association of Occupational Health; ARIA, Association for Research on Indoor Air; ARTIST, Asian Region Tobacco Industry Science Team; ATC, Asian Tobacco Council Ltd; BAT, British American Tobacco; B&W, Brown and Williamson; C&B, Covington and Burling; CIAR, Center for Indoor Air Research; CNTC, China National Tobacco Corporation; COSH, Council for Smoking and Health; EPD, Environment Protection Department; ETS, environmental tobacco smoke; HBI, Healthy Buildings International; HK, Hong Kong; HKTI, Hong Kong Tobacco Institute; IAI, Indoor Air International; IAQ, indoor air quality; JTI, Japan Tobacco Inc; KL, Kuala Lumpur; NMA, National Manufacturers Association; PM, Philip Morris Inc; PMAI, Philip Morris Asia International; RJR, RJ Reynolds; SH&B, Shook, Hardy and Bacon; TI, Tobacco Institute; USEPA, United States Environment Protection Agency

Keywords: Asia; consultants; environmental tobacco smoke; tobacco industry

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