Mexico still faces great challenges, especially in terms of public health due to the increase in the participation of the tobacco industry in the establishment and implementation of public health policies on tobacco control, according to the Tobacco Industry Interference Index.
“The three countries with the most interference from tobacco companies worldwide, according to the index, are: the Dominican Republic, Switzerland and Japan and those with the least interference are Brunei, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Mexico is in the middle with 55/100 interference from tobacco companies, although last year we had 47 rating points, which means that our position fell and in Latin America we are one of the countries that worsened the most from one year to the next ” Erick Antonio Ochoa, director of Salud Justa, pointed out at a press conference.
In this sense, civil society experts recalled that in Mexico the tobacco companies They have increased their activity to stop the improvement policies in matters of tobacco control.
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For his part, Juan Nuñez Guaderrama, coordinator of Coalitions in the organization Salud Justa y Sustentabilidad, pointed out the “void” in the reports of the Tax Administration Service (SAT) to report on the production of tobacco products, in addition to the approval of the reform of the General Law for Tobacco Control.
“For years the report that the SAT has to make to report on the production, distribution, importation of tobacco products has lived in a vacuum, which is not preparing the reports that should be applied in the country as it is done in others. This is a benefit that the tobacco industry is enjoying because it is not really known, based on a certified measurement of an independent code, how this phenomenon is taking place ”, declared Nuñez Guaderrama.
Regarding the reform of the General Law for Tobacco Control, the experts pointed out that there were clear examples of direct interference by representatives or allies of the tobacco industry in the Chamber of Deputies.
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“Another example is the promotion of voluntary regulation instead of real legislation, as in the case of safety codes where it was being promoted that the tobacco industry was the one that voluntarily delivered the information or was responsible for reporting on tobacco products. . In many countries it has been documented that the industry itself is responsible for smuggling, ”warned Adriana Rocha Camarena, Polithink’s Director of Projects.
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