San Francisco Summary – UCSF document shows leading

UCSF document shows leading humanitarian organization advocating for the rights of tobacco-affected children Date: 30 April 2018 Source: University of California-San Francisco Summary: The tobacco industry has been manipulating UNICEF’s leading children’s rights organization for over a decade, from 2003 at least 2016, reducing UNICEF’s attention to the right of children to live tobacco-free, according to previously classified documents recently discovered. UNICEF has “mitigated” the fight against tobacco use among children: the UCSF document shows that ScienceDaily is the most important humanitarian organization protecting the rights of children affected by tobacco use. According to previously classified documents recently discovered by the San Francisco Penal Code, the tobacco industry has been manipulating UNICEF’s notorious child rights organization for over a decade, from 2003 to 2016, reducing UNICEF’s attention to the right of children to live free from tobacco smoke. According to the document, tobacco companies believe that UNICEF has significant power and influence around the world and emphasize that this “must be watched closely”. “For example, the 1998 document highlighted theopportunities and potential complications’ inherent to children’s rights and addressed how tobacco control advocates canuse’ the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the United Nations in 1989. UNICEF does not comment on child tobacco control: The UCSF document shows that the large tobacco industry has influenced the organization of children’s rights. Researchers report that the industry has “managed” to “deal” with child rights organizations as part of tobacco companies’ image improvement strategies, thereby reducing UNICEF’s focus on tobacco control. “By softening its 2003 guidelines for funding the tobacco industry, UNICEF opened the door for the tobacco industry to engage in partnerships that appear to undermine its commitment to tobacco control,” said Mr. Belous, who also works at the University of Washington State’s Tobacco Control Research and Education Center. In 2001, WHO and UNICEF published a joint report on tobacco and children’s rights that highlighted the need to protect children from tobacco use, secondhand smoke, tobacco marketing and child labor in tobacco plantations. Conclusions: UNICEF became much less visible in tobacco control and took the lead in supporting the tobacco industry’s public relations efforts. “It is time for UNICEF – and all UN agencies – to recognize that tobacco companies support UNICEF in its policy and public relations work to protect their markets,” Mr. Glanz said. The authors recommend UNICEF to renew its policy of non-cooperation with the tobacco industry or its representatives in 2001 and join those sister UN agencies that have already supported the policy of non-cooperation with the tobacco industry. Bialous, DrPH, RN, an adjunct professor at the UCSF Nursing School and a long-term tobacco control specialist whose research focuses on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.