Tobacco industry participates in scientific events to improve its image

Researchers from the University of Bath have studied the evidence of participation by British American Tobacco (BAT) and Philip Morris International (PMI) in scientific events, over the decade 2012-2021. Many events, including some organized by medical societies or public bodies, were listed. The authors call on the organizers of these events to be extremely vigilant about the presence of tobacco companies and their representatives at this type of meeting.

Since the mid-1950s, the tobacco industry has funded and promoted research that validates its claims, and sought to obscure research that highlights the health consequences of its products. This interest in the scientific world has been accompanied by numerous participations in scientific conferences and events, a dimension that has, however, been little studied. However, these scientific events are privileged places for exchanges and the development of opinions between scientists. A team of researchers from the University of Bath has just filled this gap by exploring all the scientific events in which British American Tobacco (BAT) and Philip Morris International (PMI) participated over a decade.[1].

Identification of scientific events invested by cigarette manufacturers

The Bath researchers used information available on the websites of the two tobacco multinationals and cross-referenced it with information from websites dedicated to scientific events. They excluded events organized by the tobacco companies themselves or by their allies, as well as those whose organizers were not identified. Events that had been canceled, were held only online, or whose location was not sufficiently clear were also excluded. Since data provided by the tobacco companies were not available before 2012, the investigation period extends from April 2012 to September 2021.

In total, the study listed, over this period, BAT's participation in 176 events (resulting in 50 presentations and 210 posters) and that of PMI in 199 events (resulting in 27 presentations and 146 posters). After applying the selection criteria and eliminating duplicates, 105 scientific events were analyzed. The sponsorship of these events by these two tobacco majors seems rarer and was only noted in nine of them, the amount being revealed in only one case. The involvement of cigarette manufacturers in the organization of the event was found in only one case.

BAT's involvement in these scientific events appears to have been stronger in the early 2010s and more productive, before declining; PMI's involvement grew later in the 2010s, before declining in 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Location and types of targets

About 40 % of the selected scientific events were located in the Europe region, and just over a third in North America, mainly in high-income countries. 8 % of the events were distributed among the other regions, namely 4.2 % in the Pacific region, 1.4 % in Southeast Asia, 0.9 % in the Middle East and 0.5 % in Africa and Taiwan. However, this distribution seems to mainly reflect that of scientific meetings in general.

The most represented fields of activity in these events were toxicology (28.2 %), medicine (11.7 %) and chemistry (10.8 %), followed by aerosol science (8.5 %) and the tobacco/nicotine theme (5.2 %). Dentistry, pharmaceuticals and IT were present to a lesser extent. Within the medical events, almost half concerned cardiovascular medicine, the other specialties being pneumology, oncology, general medicine and neurology. In two thirds of the cases, these events were organized by professional associations or learned societies, and in 12.7 % of the cases by the federations of these organizations. These events were also organized by public bodies (around 4 %) or by a collaboration of several types of actors (6.1 %).

Call for vigilance from organizers of scientific events

The authors acknowledge that their data collection may be incomplete and is most likely an underestimate, particularly in terms of sponsorship. It also did not identify the individuals and organizations allied with the tobacco industry involved. However, it does provide insight into the areas and types of events in which the two tobacco companies participate.

For example, data analysis indicated that medical or dental associations were the organizers of more than a tenth of the events hosting tobacco companies, despite their knowledge of their influence and interference practices. The events organized by public bodies were mainly located in the United States, a country that has not ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and is not subject to restrictions on collaboration with the tobacco industry. Since the participation of tobacco companies in these events aims to legitimize their presence and normalize their discourse, the authors of the study call on the organizers of these scientific meetings to exercise the greatest vigilance and to exclude tobacco companies or anyone linked to them.

Keywords: scientific events, British American Tobacco, Philip Morris International, University of Bath

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[1] Matthes BK, Fabbri A, Dance S, et al. Seeking to be seen as legitimate members of the scientific community? An analysis of British American Tobacco and Philip Morris International's involvement in scientific events. Tobacco Control, Published Online First: 03 February 2023. doi: 10.1136/tc-2022-057809