Govt engagements with industry should be fair, transparent


A RECENT meeting between Health Ministry (MOH) officials and tobacco industry representatives has irked the Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control (MCTC). In a statement, the anti-smoking body said it is worried the meeting would hinder the government’s effort to reduce tobacco consumption.

After said meeting, a message was posted on social media about future collaboration between the ministry and the tobacco sellers. After the issue was highlighted, there were attempts to edit the post. MCTC deemed this action to be a “clear signal of attempting to hide these meetings.”

The group also stated that the meeting violated the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) treaty which the country has ratified. It said Article 5.3 of FCTC specifically states measures to protect public health policies from commercial and other interests of the tobacco industry.

FCTC is a framework that outlines the principles of non-promotion of tobacco products, which includes a ban on advertising and sponsorship.

However, should a meeting with MOH officials be deemed to have breached the FCTC?  The council statement reads: “It is the clear understanding of all parties involved in tobacco control that the FCTC Unit within the Ministry of Health is the only unit whose offices are tasked to have any sort of interaction with the tobacco industry; and that too in an official capacity in terms of regulating tobacco control… The meeting of these two officials, who are not with FCTC and have no legal or official standing with tobacco control measures, with tobacco product industry officials sends a worrying signal as to their purpose”.

The strong response from MCTC begs the question: if regulators do not engage with the industry in an open and transparent manner, how will they understand what is going on in the industry? How will they make policies that succeed in cutting the smoking rate? 

It must be stressed that Article 5.3 of the FCTC does not prohibit government interaction with the tobacco industry. The only legally binding provision, which is quite short and vague, reads: “In setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to tobacco control, Parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law”.

Its scope is therefore limited to the setting and execution of public health policies. It only requires that governments “protect” tobacco control policies from tobacco industry interests in accordance with the law.

The FCTC secretariat as well as anti-tobacco advocates have confirmed that Article 5.3 does not prohibit government engagement with the industry.

Furthermore, guidelines in Article 5.3 – which are not legally binding – emphasise transparency and accountability, not exclusion.

Has the over-zealous approach resulted in lower smoking rates in the country?

While FCTC is clear on media promotion bans, there is a need of open dialogue to achieve the desired outcome of stricter control over smoking. Open and transparent engagement between the MOH and the tobacco industry should be encouraged. It does not help to isolate and vilify the industry.

Anti-tobacco voices should ask themselves why, despite all their valiant efforts to clamp down on cigarette smoking, the vaping industry has been mushrooming right under the nose of the MOH.

There needs to be a dialogue to understand issues on all sides. Anti-smoking advocates and the government must be willing to listen to different sides of the argument and look at empirical data on smoking trends in  other countries. Or is the MOH uninterested in looking at studies and data that are not compatible with its obsolete views?

Isn’t it better to have these meetings reported for the sake of public interest? – February 8, 2023.

* Ranjit S. reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.



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