{"id":15175,"date":"2026-01-27T09:33:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T08:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/tobacco-control-experts-warn-of-industry-interference-in-spain-and-call-for-stronger-safeguards\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T12:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T11:35:12","slug":"tobacco-control-experts-warn-of-industry-interference-in-spain-and-call-for-stronger-safeguards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/en\/tobacco-control-experts-warn-of-industry-interference-in-spain-and-call-for-stronger-safeguards\/","title":{"rendered":"Tobacco control experts warn of industry interference in Spain and call for stronger safeguards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Tobacco Control Unit at the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), together with research organisations, civil society groups and health journalists, hosted the webinar \u201cTobacco Industry Interference in Spain: Evidence, Challenges and Responses.\u201d <\/a><\/strong>The session brought together national and international experts to examine how the tobacco industry continues to influence public health policymaking in Spain and what can be done to counter it.<\/p>\n\n

Speakers included Cristina Mart\u00ednez<\/strong> and Olena Tigova<\/strong> (ICO), Raquel Fern\u00e1ndez<\/strong> (Nofumadores.org), Laurent Huber <\/strong>(Action on Smoking & Health), Francisco Lozano<\/strong> (Cancer Patients Europe) and Armando Peruga<\/strong> (Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute). The discussion was moderated by Javier Granda<\/strong>, a journalist from the Spanish National Association of Health Information Professionals (ANIS).<\/p>\n\n

The panel offered an up-to-date and evidence-based overview of the issue, drawing on findings from the 2025 Tobacco Industry Interference Index.<\/a> This international benchmark assesses how well governments are protected from tobacco industry influence, in line with Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

For Spain, the index highlights notable gaps in institutional transparency, weak safeguards against conflicts of interest, and limited oversight of contacts between public officials and tobacco industry representatives.<\/p>\n\n

The webinar also reviewed some of the most common interference tactics seen in recent years, including:<\/p>\n\n

\u2022 Greenwashing<\/strong>, particularly through tobacco waste management initiatives designed to improve the industry\u2019s public image and create opportunities for collaboration with public bodies.<\/p>\n\n

\u2022 The use of illicit trade arguments<\/strong> to stall or weaken effective tobacco control measures.<\/p>\n\n

\u2022 Infiltration into institutional processes<\/strong> \u2014 described by speakers as a \u201cTrojan horse\u201d approach that allows the industry to shape regulatory decisions from within.<\/p>\n\n

Participants also discussed the continued blockage of plain packaging, one of the most effective measures to reduce the appeal of tobacco products among young people and a policy strongly recommended by international health organisations.<\/p>\n\n

The session closed with a clear and shared message: Spain needs stronger protections to shield public policy from tobacco industry interference, decisive progress towards a robust new tobacco control law, and a firm commitment to prioritising public health \u2014 especially the health of children and adolescents \u2014 on the political agenda.<\/p>\n\n

Speakers agreed that only through transparent, well-protected policies, free from commercial influence, will Spain be able to make meaningful progress in reducing the harm caused by tobacco use.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Tobacco Control Unit at the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), together with research organisations, civil society groups and health journalists, hosted the webinar \u201cTobacco Industry Interference in Spain: Evidence, Challenges and Responses.\u201d The session brought together national and international experts to examine how the tobacco industry continues to influence public health policymaking in Spain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":15232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-3.jpg",1920,1080,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-3-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-3-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-3-768x432.jpg",768,432,true],"large":["https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-3-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-3-1536x864.jpg",1536,864,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-3.jpg",1920,1080,false],"vp_sm":["https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-3-500x281.jpg",500,281,true],"vp_md":["https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-3-800x450.jpg",800,450,true],"vp_lg":["https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-3-1280x720.jpg",1280,720,true],"vp_xl":["https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-3.jpg",1920,1080,false],"vp_sm_popup":["https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-3-500x281.jpg",500,281,true],"vp_md_popup":["https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-3-800x450.jpg",800,450,true],"vp_xl_popup":["https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-3.jpg",1920,1080,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"clara","author_link":"https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/en\/author\/clara\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Tobacco Control Unit at the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), together with research organisations, civil society groups and health journalists, hosted the webinar \u201cTobacco Industry Interference in Spain: Evidence, Challenges and Responses.\u201d The session brought together national and international experts to examine how the tobacco industry continues to influence public health policymaking in Spain…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15176,"href":"https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15175\/revisions\/15176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icoprevencio.cat\/uct\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}