The Foundation has received a pledge of $80 million USD annually for 12 years, beginning in 2018 from Philip Morris International (PMI). The Foundation is seeking and expects to receive funding from other sources as well.
We fully recognize the challenges associated with accepting any funding from the tobacco industry. We also acknowledge the sad irony that we exist to solve a global public health crisis that companies like PMI helped to create and then tried to cover up. Our founder, Dr. Yach, and others on staff have spent years fighting the tobacco industry and working to end smoking.
We would have much preferred to have a diverse set of other funders in place with no industry funds from the start. But, it would have taken years to build a base. Additionally, given the urgency of the problem – 1.1 billion smokers, 7 million dying each year, and a trajectory toward a billion deaths this century – we chose the path that gave us the best chance to move quickly and accepted the funding. But we did so only with extremely rigid protections against any involvement from PMI or anyone else from the industry in our ongoing activities or operations..
Under the Foundation’s bylaws and pledge agreement, PMI and the tobacco industry are precluded from having any influence over how the Foundation spends its funds or focuses its activities. Independence and transparency are core principles of the Foundation, and we have set ourselves up from the beginning to operate in alignment with the most rigid principles available to avoid conflicts of interest.
The Foundation has, constituted in its bylaws, an independent research agenda, independent governance, and protection against conflict of interest. We request that grant recipients submit papers for peer review and, wherever possible, make their data and findings available to other researchers for review and consideration.
Researchers, doctors, and community leaders are coming together at @CoeharUnict in Catania, #Italy to drive crucial #research on smoking reduction and cessation. Hear from the trailblazers: http://bit.ly/35BhlWr
Romita Shah discusses key findings from this year’s #ATISummit2019 in #Malawi. As she puts it, “the summit suggested that science, technology, and innovation will play a critical role in helping the agricultural sector in Malawi overcome its challenges.” http://bit.ly/35Zvblq
#DYK in 2016, Brazil, India, and China produced almost 64% of the world’s tobacco (about 10%, 11%, and 42%, respectively). Explore our report on Global Trends in Tobacco Production and Trade for more insightful takeaways. http://bit.ly/2NytTpP
https://www.wsj.com/articles/researchers-say-fda-has-fallen-down-on-e-cigarette-testing-11574850602?emailToken=0a130bb960dec7bc16b0390b4911aa931OgjP5SE8gY6vCi4Ccm9/yXhoXpJTPOq8W2NpeI4S4YCiKxIyaZ9WtjkXqJWtYGw9x9adoWjGwFaNQ9JahwAstjhRIFoo9oHaBGv9yfNK1uryXEzmwiASGWil6OaQ8PE&reflink=article_email_share @SmokeFreeFdn is funding gaps in science mentioned here. We fund research on better cessation, safe harm reduction and biomarkers to predict benefits. Tested in large and diverse user groups. @WSJ
In a new blog post, David Janazzo discusses the importance of the upcoming Tobacco Transformation Index. The goal of this tool is to incentivize and monitor tobacco companies’ efforts towards a world free of high-risk tobacco products. http://bit.ly/2Y988Cb
© 2019 Foundation for A Smoke-Free World. All rights reserved.
