CONFERENCE PROCEEDING
The UK Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2023: Lessons, challenges and ways forward
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University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
Publication date: 2024-10-17
Tob. Prev. Cessation 2024;10(Supplement 1):A23
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The UK Tobacco Industry Interference Index (UKTI) forms part of
the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index (GTI). Based on
a survey methodology developed by the Southeast Asia Tobacco
Control Alliance (SEATCA) and published by the Global Center
for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC), the GTI is a
global survey on how governments respond to tobacco industry
interference and to what extent they protect their public health
policies from the commercial and vested interests of the tobacco
industry, as required under the World Health Organization
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).
Since the first GTI in 2019, the UKTI has been carried out by
the Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG) at the University
of Bath. The latest UKTI was published in November 2023.
Monitoring, investigating, and reporting on industry interference
is complex, with large volumes of publicly available information
in multiple locations and formats. These include government
sources such as lobbying registers, Hansard reports, and registers
of interests; tobacco industry sources such as company reports,
websites, and press releases; and external media including the
industry and retail press. TCRG has implemented innovative
methods using a wide range of tools and resources, including
open-source intelligence techniques (OSINT) and freedom of
information requests (FOIs). These methods are outlined and
critically assessed. In doing so, we hope that lessons learned
in the UK may be relevant to monitoring the tobacco industry
interference elsewhere.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
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