Implementing FCTC Article 17 through Participatory Research with Bidi Workers in Tamil Nadu, India

Introduction: The exploitation, poor conditions and precarity in the bidi (hand-rolled leaf cigarette) industry in India makes it ripe for the application of the FCTC’s Article 17, ‘Provision of support for economically viable alternative activities’. ‘Bottom up’, participatory approaches give scope to explore bidi rollers’ own circumstances, experiences and aspirations. Methods: A team of six community health volunteers using a participatory research orientation developed a questionnaire-based semi-structured interview tool. Forty-six bidi rolling women were interviewed by pairs of volunteers in two northern Tamil Nadu cities. Two follow-up focus groups were also held. A panel of 11 bidi rollers attended a workshop at which the findings from the interviews and focus groups were presented, further significant points were made and possible alternatives to bidi rolling were discussed. Results: Bidi workers are aware of the adverse impact of their occupation on them and their families, as well as the major risks posed by the product itself for the health of consumers. However, they need alternative livelihoods that offer equivalent remuneration, convenience and (in some cases) dignity. Alternative livelihoods, and campaigns for better rights for bidi workers while they remain in the industry, serve to undercut industry arguments against tobacco control. Responses need to be diverse and specific to local situations, i.e. ‘bottom up’ as much as ‘top down’, which can make the issue of scaling up problematic. Conclusion: Participatory approaches involving bidi workers themselves in discussions about their circumstances and aspirations have opened up new possibilities for alternative livelihoods to tobacco

Corporate philanthropy, political influence, and health policy

Background The Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC) provides a basis for nation states to limit the political effects of tobacco industry philanthropy, yet progress in this area is limited. This paper aims to integrate the findings of previous studies on tobacco industry philanthropy with a new analysis of British American Tobacco's (BAT) record of charitable giving to develop a general model of corporate political philanthropy that can be used to facilitate implementation of the FCTC. Method Analysis of previously confidential industry documents, BAT social and stakeholder dialogue reports, and existing tobacco industry document studies on philanthropy. Results The analysis identified six broad ways in which tobacco companies have used philanthropy politically: developing constituencies to build support for policy positions and generate third party advocacy; weakening opposing political constituencies; facilitating access and building relationships with policymakers; creating direct leverage with policymakers by providing financial subsidies to specific projects; enhancing the donor's status as a source of credible information; and shaping the tobacco control agenda by shifting thinking on the importance of regulating the market environment for tobacco and the relative risks of smoking for population health. Contemporary BAT social and stakeholder reports contain numerous examples of charitable donations that are likely to be designed to shape the tobacco control agenda, secure access and build constituencies. Conclusions and Recommendations Tobacco companies' political use of charitable donations underlines the need for tobacco industry philanthropy to be restricted via full implementation of Articles 5.3 and 13 of the FCTC. The model of tobacco industry philanthropy developed in this study can be used by public health advocates to press for implementation of the FCTC and provides a basis for analysing the political effects of charitable giving in other industry sectors which have an impact on public health such as alcohol and food

Global Health Governance and the Commercial Sector: A Documentary Analysis of Tobacco Company Strategies to Influence the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Heide Weishaar and colleagues did an analysis of internal tobacco industry documents together with other data and describe the industry's strategic response to the proposed World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Eliminating child labour in Malawi: a British American Tobacco corporate responsibility project to sidestep tobacco labour exploitation.

OBJECTIVES: To examine British American Tobacco and other tobacco industry support of the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing Foundation. DESIGN: Analyses of internal tobacco industry documents and ethnographic data. RESULTS: British American Tobacco co-founded the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing Foundation (ECLT) in October 2000 and launched its pilot project in Malawi. ECLT's initial projects were budgeted at US2.3 million dollars over four years. Labour unions and leaf dealers, through ECLT funds, have undertook modest efforts such as building schools, planting trees, and constructing shallow wells to address the use of child labour in tobacco farming. In stark contrast, the tobacco companies receive nearly US40 million dollars over four years in economic benefit through the use of unpaid child labour in Malawi during the same time. BAT's efforts to combat child labour in Malawi through ECLT was developed to support the company's "corporate social responsibility agenda" rather than accepting responsibility for taking meaningful steps to eradicate child labour in the Malawi tobacco sector. CONCLUSION: In Malawi, transnational tobacco companies are using child labour projects to enhance corporate reputations and distract public attention from how they profit from low wages and cheap tobacco

Eliminating child labour in Malawi: a British American Tobacco corporate responsibility project to sidestep tobacco labour exploitation

OBJECTIVES: To examine British American Tobacco and other tobacco industry support of the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing Foundation. DESIGN: Analyses of internal tobacco industry documents and ethnographic data. RESULTS: British American Tobacco co-founded the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing Foundation (ECLT) in October 2000 and launched its pilot project in Malawi. ECLT's initial projects were budgeted at US2.3 million dollars over four years. Labour unions and leaf dealers, through ECLT funds, have undertook modest efforts such as building schools, planting trees, and constructing shallow wells to address the use of child labour in tobacco farming. In stark contrast, the tobacco companies receive nearly US40 million dollars over four years in economic benefit through the use of unpaid child labour in Malawi during the same time. BAT's efforts to combat child labour in Malawi through ECLT was developed to support the company's "corporate social responsibility agenda" rather than accepting responsibility for taking meaningful steps to eradicate child labour in the Malawi tobacco sector. CONCLUSION: In Malawi, transnational tobacco companies are using child labour projects to enhance corporate reputations and distract public attention from how they profit from low wages and cheap tobacco

Control y cuidado de los infantes con cuadro anémico

La anemia es definida por la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) como la condición en la cual el contenido de hemoglobina en la sangre se encuentra debajo de lo normal, para determinada edad, sexo y estado fisiológico, ocasionado por la carencia de uno o más nutrientes esenciales, entre ellos el hierro, ácido fólico, zinc, vitamina B12 y proteínas. Las causas de la anemia ferropriva pueden tener inicio en el período intra-uterino, por deficiencia de hierro en el organismo materno, una vez que las reservas fisiológicas de hierro en el feto son formadas en el último trimestre de la gestación. Estas reservas junto con el hierro proveniente de la leche materna sustentan la demanda del lactante hasta el sexto mes de vida. La combinación de la anemia por deficiencia de hierro y el envenenamiento por plomo puede tener graves consecuencias en la salud de los niños y ponerlos a riesgo de sufrir de problemas del aprendizaje y comportamiento. La anemia por deficiencia de hierro se detecta durante un examen de rutina. Los síntomas, como la fatiga y la inapetencia, son usuales en otras enfermedades, el pediatra necesita más información para hacer el diagnóstico. Si se sospecha de anemia por deficiencia de hierro posiblemente le hará preguntas sobre la dieta del niño y también solicitará exámenes de sangre. Las mujeres embarazadas que tienen anemia tienen más riesgo de tener mortalidad materna y neonatal, que el bebé nazca con bajo peso y prematuro, así como un retardo de crecimiento en el útero. Es muy importante tomar suplementos de hierro durante el embarazo. Una nutrición adecuada, incluyendo una dieta rica en hierro, es muy importante para todos los niños. Cuando se establecen buenos hábitos alimenticios desde muy temprano se ayuda a evitar la deficiencia de hierro y por lo tanto la consecuente anemia. La metodología usada es descriptiva, con un enfoque documental, es decir, revisar fuentes disponibles en la red, como google académico, con contenido oportuno y relevante desde el punto de vista científico que enriquezca el análisis del tema planteado en este artículo

Tobacco Companies’ Use of Developing Countries’ Economic Reliance on Tobacco to Lobby Against Global Tobacco Control: The Case of Malawi

Transnational tobacco manufacturing and tobacco leaf companies engage in numerous efforts to oppose global tobacco control. One of their strategies is to stress the economic importance of tobacco to the developing countries that grow it

Telling digital stories as feminist research and practice: A 2-day workshop with migrant women in London

© The Author(s) 2018. In this article, we look at Digital Storytelling (DS) as a specifically feminist epistemology within qualitative social research methods. Digital Storytelling is a process allowing research participants to tell their stories in their own words through a guided creative workshop that includes the use of digital technology, participatory approaches, and co-production of personal stories. The article draws on a 2-day Digital Storytelling workshop with migrant women which was set up to understand the life stories and work trajectories of volunteers working in the women’s community and voluntary sector in London. By outlining this innovative approach, the article highlights its potential and makes a case for Digital Storytelling as a feminist approach to research while taking into account epistemological, practical, and ethical considerations