Foundation for a Smoke-Free World
In its first year, the Foundation spent more on public relations than on scientific research, but had not yet spent most of its yearly budget.[6] Its president was Derek Yach, a former World Health Organization (and later PepsiCo) executive.[7][8]
An investigation conducted by investigative journalists of Le Monde, The Investigative Desk (Netherlands), Follow the Money (Netherlands) and Knack, published in April 2021, suggested that the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World is a lobbying tool used by Philip Morris International to circumvent the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.[8][9] According to internal documents from 2014, PMI's strategy consisted of dividing the tobacco control movement (schematically divided between "prohibitionists" and "pragmatists") and bending the WHO in order to promote alternative products (e-cigarettes, heated tobacco, etc.) to cigarettes.[8]
The Center of Excellence for the Acceleration of Harm Reduction (CoEHAR) at the University of Catania is funded by the Foundation (through an intermediate company named ECLAT SRL) and some of its researchers (such as Riccardo Polosa) published tobacco-related papers without declaring funds received from the Foundation nor conflicts of interest.[6][10][11] Advocacy groups directly or indirectly funded by the Foundation have stated that vaping with electronic cigarettes is a safer choice than smoking cigarettes, regarding the health effects of COVID-19.[12]
On 28 September 2022, the second edition of the Tobacco Transformation Index (an initiative of FSFW) was released at the Global Tobacco & Nicotine Forum (GTNF) detailing the results of research into the efforts made by the world’s 15 largest tobacco companies to reduce the harm caused by the consumption of their products. The 2022 Index noted that high-risk products made up about 95% of retail sales in 2021, with so-called reduced-risk products making up the remainder. It also noted that tobacco companies are failing to invest in harm reduction in low and middle-income countries, with sales of reduced-risk products concentrated in markets with a high disposable income.[13]
On 4 October 2022, it was reported that the Agricultural Transformation Initiative (ATI), a subsidiary of FSFW, supported Malawi-based scholars through the ATI Fellowship and Scholarship Fund. Fifteen postgraduate students shared information about their studies while speaking with experts and students at the North Carolina State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences International Programs. The goal of the event was to use what the students learned to help diversify Malawi’s tobacco-reliant agricultural ecosystem.[14]
On 31 January 2023, The Australian reported that research conducted by FSFW was published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research, appearing in a paper about patterns of tobacco use over the pandemic. The original paper was cited in further papers, causing the research to eventually be cited in more than 6,700 papers.[15]
