The idea to stress the economic importance of tobacco to the developing countries should be considered quite carefully, as the issue caused numerous disturbances. Generally, the major idea of the conflict is that BAT, ITGA, and some other tobacco manufacturers try to weaken tobacco control activities. For this reason, one of the most reliable ways to achieve the purpose is to use the authorities of Malawi, in order to lobby against tobacco control. Moreover, it should also be pointed out that The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control tries to reduce the impact of cigarettes on people’s health.
The main aim of an international treaty is to make important information available; thus, the members of the FCTC promote various education programs, concerning not only the dangers of tobacco, but also secondhand smoke. On the other hand, one is to keep in mind that the treaty of the Convention on Tobacco Control was created to regulate the tobacco industry’s production. “Malawi is considered to be an extreme, but not unique case of how transnational tobacco companies have used developing countries’ economic reliance on tobacco to oppose global tobacco control” (“World Health Organization,” 2000, p. 107).
Another point, which cannot be neglected, is that other tobacco-growing countries wanted to get a support from the authorities of Malawi. Moreover, these countries (Turkey, Argentina, Zimbabwe, etc.) wanted to restrict the activity of United Nations, as the organizations of UN were involved in tobacco regulation.
The authors of the article state that “The tobacco industry’s influence on health policymaking in Malawi involves relationships between institutions and power and between the global and local levels” (Otanez et. al., 2009, p. 1759).
Generally, it is necessary to point out that the attempts of transnational tobacco manufacturing to impact on tobacco control policies in Malawi showed the so-called dishonest policy of tobacco companies all over the word. Thus, one can make a conclusion that the situation can be regarded both negatively and positively. When speaking about the advantages, one can state that the economic and political power of tobacco companies was finally revealed. On the other hand, the activity of the FCTC was also obvious. For instance, the members of The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control implemented various changes in relation to social norms.
Otanez decided to conduct interviews with more than one hundred tobacco workers. Generally, the participants of interviews were chosen on the basis of several criteria; thus, they were selected according to their knowledge in relation to health policy, their relations with tobacco control companies, and their knowledge of the tobacco manufacturing in a landlocked country in southern central Africa. In his interview the author relied on the so-called anthropological method of observation, in order to understand and interpret the behaviors and perspectives of people.
The indicators of human development in Malawi are recognized to be the lowest in the world. Thus, most of the nation is below the poverty line. Moreover, the level of illiteracy increases 30 %. More than 40 % of representatives of Malawi’s population die until they are 40.
The representatives of tobacco companies in Malawi wanted to expand their sector, “despite labor, economic and environmental practices that harm many of the country’s citizens” (Otanez et. al., 2009, p. 1762). In the early seventies, Malawi became the major tobacco-producing country in the world. At the same time, the representatives of transnational tobacco companies tried to involve the government into tobacco industry. In the early eighties, the major tobacco market in the country – BAT identified the authority of the country as the most powerful tool in the struggle against tobacco control. In the mid of the eighties, Nick Hauser stated that the government of Malawi could oppose WHO recommendations. Ten years later, in the early nineties, transnational tobacco companies of Malawi were supported by the authority of the country. Thus, it became obvious that the government of Malawi and tobacco manufacturers decided to cooperate, in order to eliminate tobacco control policies.
It should be noted that ITGA and BAT tried to discredit WHO, in order to prove the importance of economic benefits of tobacco industry. Transnational tobacco companies wanted to obtain a support from the FCTC and reduce tobacco control efforts. Certain health policies were used by transnational tobacco manufacturing, in order to encourage the authority of the country to help tobacco industry and restrict the activity of the opposed organizations. For this reason, the representatives of leaf companies stated that there was no tobacco problem in the countries of the Third World. However, the attempts to implement the strategy failed, as it was impossible to portray the country as free from problems. In other words, it was obvious that socio-ecological and health problems in Malawi appeared because of tobacco manufacturing and leaf companies.
“BAT and Philip Morris, through ITGA, formed the main opposition to the FCTC and other tobacco control efforts, placing Malawi at the center of improbable disaster scenarios to argue the negative consequences of such efforts” (Otanez et. al., 2009, p. 1768).
References:
Otanez, M., Mamudu, H., Glantz, S. (2009). Tobacco Companies’ Use of Developing Countries’ Economic Reliance on Tobacco to Lobby against Global Tobacco Control: The Case of Malawi. American Journal of Public Health 99 (10), 1759-1771.
World Health Organization: Tobacco Company Strategies to Undermine Tobacco Control Activities at the World Health Organization (2000). University of California. Web.