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'Independent' doctor-led vaping group accepts tobacco-tainted funding
By Esther Han
A charity spearheading efforts to legalise nicotine vaping in Australia has accepted funding from an overseas group with clear links to tobacco multinationals.
Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association (ATHRA), the doctor-led charity that has driven much of the debate in the past year, says it does not accept donations from tobacco companies or their subsidiaries.
Some experts say e-cigarettes are a 'gateway' to traditional cigarettes.Credit: Joe Armao
However, it accepted a "one-off, unconditional" donation of $8000 from UK harm reduction organisation Knowledge-Action-Change (KAC), which supports vaping and has accepted money that originated from tobacco companies.
“This is very disappointing," Mike Daube, Emeritus Professor from Curtin University and anti-tobacco campaigner, said.
"There are legitimate discussions to be had about tobacco policy, but not with groups that accept funding from tobacco-funded organisations.”
KAC has accepted funding from Foundation for a Smoke-Free World - which received initial funding from Philip Morris International (PMI) - for its tobacco harm reduction scholarship program.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has commissioned an inquiry into vaping.Credit: AAP
KAC's director Gerry Stimson has also requested and received funding from Nicoventures - a company created by British American Tobacco - for a smoking cessation project.
Asked whether it was appropriate for ATHRA to accept tobacco-tainted funding from KAC, its chairman Colin Mendelsohn did not directly answer.
Instead, he reiterated that ATHRA did not accept money from tobacco companies or their subsidiaries and the "independent board" made all the decisions.
"Smoking rates in Australia are either flatlining or rising," Dr Mendelsohn said.
"Rather than accept this, ATHRA is dedicated to reducing the death and disease toll from smoking."
The term "harm reduction" refers to activities that focus on lessening the health risks of using a product rather than banning it, although research has demonstrated how tobacco companies have co-opted "tobacco harm reduction" to improve their corporate reputation and shape public policy.
ATHRA points to a British study that found e-cigarettes have an estimated 4 per cent risk compared to tobacco cigarettes, and nicotine patches have a 2 per cent risk.
'Important for credibility'
At the Global Forum on Nicotine in Poland last year, Dr Mendelsohn announced "industry and KAC" had provided initial funding "but now we're relying on independent, unrestricted tax-deductible donations [because] that's important for credibility".
"If we have no links to industry or any other agenda we will have more credibility and will be taken seriously and that's what's happening," he told the crowd.
While historically smaller independent businesses have dominated the e-cigarette market, today all major tobacco companies have investments in the industry.
PMI recently released a survey that showed 80 per cent of Australians believed smokers should have access to "alternative products", in a bid to pressure the government into overturning the nicotine vaping ban.
Emeritus Professor Mike Daube.
'Irreconcilable conflict'
Emeritus Professor Daube said the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control stated there was a "fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry’s interests and public health policy interests".
He said anyone working with tobacco-funded groups must understand they may be seen as assisting "Big Tobacco’s" agendas.
"KAC has been funded by two of the world’s largest tobacco companies, responsible for millions of deaths. No reputable health groups should accept this tainted money," he said.
"Anyone truly concerned should clearly dissociate themselves from all tobacco-funded entities and support the evidence-based approaches recommended by WHO.”
Professor Stimson did not respond to a request for comment.
The gateway effect
A study recently published in Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health found vaping may have a "gateway effect" and lead young people to cigarettes.
“Young people are indeed vulnerable to the marketing and advertising of e-cigarettes and even those who have never smoked traditional cigarettes are increasingly interested in trying these devices," lead author Dr Michelle Jongenelis said.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has recently caved into pressure from some Liberal colleagues and commissioned an inquiry into the scientific evidence of vaping.