Abstract
BackgroundAfter Thailand enacted laws to ban the import and sale of all types of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS, including e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs)) in 2015, pro-ENDS advocacy groups pressured the government to lift the ban, particularly after Philip Morris International (PMI) started promoting its HTP IQOS in 2017.MethodsWe reviewed information related to ENDS in Thailand between 2014 and 2019 from Thai newspaper articles, meeting minutes and letters submitted to government agencies, websites and social media platforms of pro-ENDS networks and Thai tobacco control organisations.ResultsThe tobacco industry and the pro-ENDS groups used five tactics to try to reverse the Thai ban on ENDS: creating front groups, lobbying decision-makers, running public relations campaigns, seeking to discredit tobacco control advocates and funding pro-tobacco harm reduction research. ENDS Cigarette Smoking Thailand (ECST), a pro-ENDS group in Thailand, worked in parallel to Philip Morris Thailand Limited (PMTL) to oppose the ban. The group connected with international coalitions that promote harm reduction through the PMI-funded Foundation for a Smoke-Free World.ConclusionAlthough ECST and PMTL continuously worked to revoke the ban since 2017, the government still kept ENDS illegal as of October 2020. This decision resulted from the strong commitment and collaboration among Thai tobacco control organisations and their shared vision to protect the public’s health from harmful tobacco products. The similar strategies used by the pro-ENDS movement in Thailand and the tobacco companies could inform health advocates and policy-makers in other low and middle income countries facing pressure to market ENDS.
Funder
National Cancer Institute
Subject
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Health(social science)
Reference147 articles.
1. Electronic cigarette use and exposure in the pediatric population;Collaco;JAMA Pediatr,2015
2. Daily News . บุหรี่ไฟฟ้าทะลัก ห่วงวัยรุ่นฮิตสูบ สธ.เร่งสกัดด่วน Daily News 2010:1–2.
3. E-Cigarette Policymaking by local and state governments: 2009-2014;Cox;Milbank Q,2016
4. Global approaches to regulating electronic cigarettes
5. International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease . Where bans are best: why LMICs must prohibit e-cigarette and HTP sales to truly tackle tobacco, 2020. Available: https://theunion.org/technical-publications/union-position-paper-on-e-cigarettes-and-htp-sales-in-lmics [Accessed 21 Oct 2020].
Cited by
18 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献