Investigating Institutional Influences on Tobacco Control

说明(申请人提供)：烟草使用与其他健康问题的不同之处在于，存在一个咄咄逼人的跨国烟草行业，其机构目标与公共卫生目标不相容。“企业社会责任”(CSR)倡议是烟草行业寻求在美国和全球范围内阻碍公共健康和创造有利于烟草的政策环境的一种重要但未被认识到的手段。通过从事“负责任”的活动(如建立“青少年吸烟预防”计划，并为有价值的事业做出贡献)，烟草行业提升其形象，反击负面宣传，将烟草问题框定为“负责任”的消费和营销之一，并为政策制定者提供与该行业接触的理由。跨国烟草公司通过企业社会责任破坏公共卫生努力的财政资源和能力几乎无限，这是遏制烟草流行病的最大障碍之一，特别是在低收入和中等收入国家。这一应用程序继续并扩展了我们目前的研究，以解决美国和非洲烟草行业的CSR倡议和媒体对这些倡议的回应，并分析它们对烟草控制的影响。具体目标是：具体目标1：调查美国和选定的非洲国家的烟草行业CSR倡议及其对该行业维持烟草有利的能力的影响 通过a)检索和分析与美国和非洲CSR倡议有关的烟草行业文件；以及b)检索和分析烟草公司网站上与CSR相关的信息；具体目标2：检查媒体对美国和非洲烟草行业CSR倡议的报道，以确定此类倡议的报道范围、内容和框架以及对烟草控制的影响。这个项目将 通过揭露指导烟草行业CSR活动的潜在伙伴关系、策略和动机，帮助公共卫生从业者和政策制定者更有效地应对这些问题，并使烟草控制决策不受烟草行业影响，直接帮助烟草控制努力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Tobacco use is distinguished from other health problems by the presence of an aggressive, multinational tobacco industry whose institutional goals are incompatible with those of public health. "Corporate social responsibility" (CSR) initiatives are an important and under-recognized means by which the tobacco industry seeks to thwart public health and create a tobacco-favorable policy environment in the US and globally. By engaging in "responsible" activities (such as establishing "youth smoking prevention" programs, and contributing to worthy causes), the tobacco industry enhances its image and counters negative publicity, frames the tobacco problem as one of "responsible" consumption and marketing, and provides policymakers with reasons to engage with the industry. The almost unlimited financial resources and ability of multinational tobacco companies to undermine public health efforts through CSR constitutes one of the greatest obstacles to stemming the tobacco epidemic, particularly in low and middle income countries. This application continues and extends our current research to address both US and African tobacco industry CSR initiatives and media responses to them, and to analyze their tobacco control implications. The specific aims are: Specific aim #1: Investigate tobacco industry CSR initiatives in the US and selected African countries and their implications for the industry's ability to maintain a tobacco-favorable social and regulatory environment by a) retrieving and analyzing tobacco industry documents related to US and African CSR initiatives; and b) retrieving and analyzing CSR-related information on tobacco company websites; Specific aim #2: Examine media coverage of tobacco industry CSR initiatives in the US and Africa to determine the extent, content, and framing of coverage of such initiatives and the implications for tobacco control. This project will directly aid tobacco control efforts by exposing the underlying partnerships, tactics, and motivations guiding tobacco industry CSR activities, helping public health practitioners and policymakers more effectively counter them and insulate tobacco control policymaking from tobacco industry influences.