Tobacco Industry Capitalizes on Pandemic to Increase Influence in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Jennie Lyn Reyes is the author of the 2020 Asian Tobacco Industry Interference Index and the Monitoring and Evaluation Manager of SEATCA.
BANGKOK, Thailand, Nov 20 2020 (IPS) – While the COVID-19 pandemic has elevated public health to a top priority in every country in the world, it has left many poorly resourced governments receptive to any and all aid that can provide immediate assistance to help their people.
The pandemic pandemonium has provided unprecedented opportunities for the tobacco industry to boost its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to get closer to health and senior government officials.
Using charity to gain access to senior officia…
Endgame for Polio in Pakistan
A young child being given polio drops in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Pakistan recently reported that it had been a year since the last case of polio was detected. Credit: EOC KP
KARACHI, Feb 2 2022 (IPS) – “It was like a heavy burden had been lifted, and I could breathe easier,” said Irum Khan, a polio worker, recalling the cloudy, gloomy, winter morning of January 28, 2022, when her supervisor announced Pakistan had not reported a single case of a child afflicted with polio sin…