The defenders of public health have struggled to combat the growing presence of the tobacco industry, which, in turn, has been increasingly successful in its efforts to undermine control. Begun at the end of 2012, the project "The nexus between the control of smoking and economic policies", supported by Fiotec, has the purpose of identifying and analyzing the strategies used by the tobacco industry to influence governments and international economics agencies, in order to understand how the economic policies affect the execution of tobacco control measures.

The research, which is developed by the Sergio Arouca National School of Public Health (ENSP/Fiocruz), in partnership with the American Cancer Society, Georgetown University (USA) and Lethbridge University (Canada), is to assist in building knowledge on the subject by means of two large countries under development: Brazil and the Philippines. "Neither representatives of civil society nor the government are sufficiently informed about these relationships (laws on trade, investment and control) to be able to determine the best policy to effectively protect public health", explained the project’s coordinator, Vera da Costa e Silva.

Expected to reach its conclusion in 2014, the project has already undergone important stages. Initially, a plan was developed with the assistance of the foreign researchers involved. Then, the first collection of data was made by means of interviews with persons of relevance in the policy on smoking control in Brazil. "Now the team is working on a bibliographic survey of the official literature related to the theme and, soon, we will begin the second collection of data, both nationally and internationally ", reported Vera.

At the end of the research, we expect to obtain a set of reports with sufficient and corroborated information on the economic relationship and the control of tobacco. Besides this, we plan to perform a training workshop for those involved in the control of tobacco in the country and the formulators of economic policies, to be held at the ENSP. "The event will make it possible to discuss how to integrate the two areas so that they serve public health in a balanced manner", explained the coordinator.

Partnership with Fiotec facilitates international partnerships

Fiotec supports the project through the contracting of personnel, acquisition of material, financial reports, among other activities. "The partnership with Fiotec is very important for this project, because it facilitates the establishment of partnerships with international bodies, especially when there is financing with the transfer of funds involved", said Vera. And she concluded: "Also, the partnership makes it possible for the researchers to use their time on that which they know how to do best: research! The work is done in a professional manner and the audits are conducted with competence".