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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

David Sweanor, JD, University of Ottawa, 1890 Norwood Ave, Ottawa, Ontario, ON K1K 5K6, Canada, 613-799-0665, dsweanor@uottawa.ca

Members of the public health community and of the anti-tobacco community have had ongoing discussions with tobacco company employees and ex-employees on a regular basis throughout the ‘Tobacco Wars'. These contacts, largely informal in nature, have been an extraordinary source of insight into the tobacco industry, have aided efforts to understand the divisions within the industry, and have helped shape tobacco control policies. This effort is consistent with past efforts at dialogue between public health advocates and representatives of other industries whose products were a recognized cause of death, injury and disease. As tobacco control efforts progress toward science-based product regulation and efforts to reduce the risks for continuing users of tobacco/nicotine the need for informal dialogue - and the requirement for formal dialogue - will increase. This creates an urgent need for an understanding of terms of engagement, including the need of public health advocates to have rational end goals and to better understand the dynamics of the industry. This presentation will review some of the dialogue to date, outline the market changes that will necessitate greater dialogue and seek to convey a rational approach to dealing with this dialogue in the years ahead.

Learning Objectives:

• See session abstract

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No