Chad says no to Imperial Tobacco's maneuvers

Various well-documented tobacco industry tactics[1], explain the objective pursued by manufacturers to restore their tarnished image in the public and among decision-makers in order to allow them to return to the political decision-making process. Among these tactics are initiatives accompanied by targeted communication intended to restore the manufacturer's reputation. In this perspective, the tobacco industry systematically seeks to appear in the context of actions relating to CSR, corporate social responsibility. Crisis situations such as natural disasters, the current Covid 19 pandemic constitute in this regard prime opportunities for manufacturers. Thus taking advantage of the current needs of governments to try to protect populations from a new virus endangering health and even economic systems, manufacturers seek to present themselves as supporting actors, thereby concealing their share of responsibility for the heavy price paid by smokers in this pandemic. Chad is a country facing many public health problems and the country's limited resources are an obstacle to improving the health of the Chadian population as well as its economic development. In recent decades, tobacco manufacturers have arrived in force and through their aggressive marketing strategies have added the problem of smoking in this country, causing illness and death to thousands of Chadians and further straining the resources of the country and its inhabitants. Thanks to the WHO treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Chad has managed to adopt strong measures to combat smoking and protect this industry.[2]. Also, when Imperial Tobacco tried to develop its advertising campaign on the grounds of communicating about the pandemic, the Chadian authorities, after consulting the National Committee for the Fight against Smoking, categorically refused. The manufacturer proposed to "raise awareness among tobacco retailers and the population against Covid 19" by means of posters, and masks and hydroalcoholic gel for tobacco sellers. Chad has the merit of having national regulations aimed at preventing interference by the tobacco industry in health policies. It completely prohibits these forms of patronage and philanthropic actions on the part of the tobacco industry, knowing that they are never without major risks for the future. On the other hand, taxes on tobacco products have been adopted which now finance the universal health coverage recently adopted by the Chadian government. These are two important decisions likely to improve the country's public health.Chad Decree Prevention of Tobacco Industry Interference in Health Policies©Tobacco Free Generation

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[1] Selda Ulucanlar, Gary J. Fooks, Anna B. Gilmore The policy dystopia model: an interpretative analysis of tobacco industry political activity, PLOS Medcine, September 20, 2016 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002125[2] https://www.otaf.info/node/184©National Committee Against Smoking |