The tobacco industry uses various strategies to try to gain respectability and legitimacy. One way it may exert influence is by linking itself with academia. Unwittingly or otherwise, universities and medical schools can be involved in activities that directly or indirectly support the tobacco industry’s anti-tobacco control agenda and lend credibility to its activities. The purpose of this system-level study is to examine the nature and extent of the relationships between the tobacco industry and Canadian universities and medical schools.
All universities, colleges and medical schools in Canada were eligible for inclusion in the study. Questionnaires were sent to appropriate university officials to determine: (1) their institutional policies and practices with regard to tobacco industry research funding during 1996-1999; (2) their institutional policies and practices with regard to donations from the tobacco industry during 1996-1999; (3) their institutional investment policies and practices for pension plan and endowment funds as they relate to the tobacco industry, as of December 31, 1999; and (4) the extent to which officers of the tobacco industry serve on boards of academic institutions, and vice versa.
Total research and donations funding from the tobacco industry will be described, and the purposes and designated recipients of donations will be summarized. The amount of investments in tobacco stocks will be reported. Conflict-of-interest policies regarding research funding, donations and investments, and perceived barriers to enacting such policies, will be reviewed. The extent of officer affiliations will be described. Implications for tobacco control will be discussed.
Learning Objectives: 1. Identify the types of relationships that can occur between universities and the tobacco industry. 2. Recognize the extent of these relationships in the Canadian context. 3. Discuss implications for tobacco control policy and practice.
Keywords: Tobacco Industry, Tobacco Control
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: none
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.