El éxito de la industria tabacalera en Costa Rica

Eric Crosbie, Ernesto M. Sebrie and Stanton A. Glantz

University of California at San Francisco, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education from Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, UC San Francisco

Abstract: Objetivo. Analizar cómo la industria tabacalera influyó en la formulación de las políticas de control del tabaco en Costa Rica. Materiales y métodos. Revision de documentos de la industria tabacalera, de la legislación costarricense de control del tabaco y de periódicos y entrevistas con informates clave. Resultados. Durante los años ochenta, el Ministerio de Salud aprobó varios decretos para restringir el consumo de tabaco, lo que causó que British American Tobacco y Philip Morris International fortalecieran su presencia politica, cuyo resultado fue la promulgación de una ley débil en 1995 todavia vigente. Desde 1995 la industria tabacalera ha ultizado a Costa Rica como piloto para los programas latinoamericanos y ha dominado la formulación de politicas influenciando al Ministerio de Salud, incluyendo negociaciones privadas con la industria tabacalera en violación de las directrices del Articulo 5.3 del Convenio Marco para el Control de Tabaco (CMCT) de la Organización Mundial de la Salud. Conclusión. La experiencia de Costa Rica demustra la gran importancia que tiene la implementación del Articulo 5.3 del CMCT para proteger las políticas de la salud pública de la interferencia de la industria tabacalera. Objective. To analyze how the tobacco industry influenced tobacco control policymaking in Costa Rica. Materials and Methods. Review of tobacco industry documents, tobacco control legislation, newspaper articles, and interviewing of key informants. Results. During the mid-to-late 1980s, Health Ministry issued several advanced (for their time) smoking restriction decrees causing British American Tobacco (BAT) and Philip Morris International (PMI) to strengthen their political presence there, resulting in passage of a weak 1995 law, which as of August 2011, remained in effect. Since 1995 the industry has used Costa Rica as a pilot site for Latin American programs and has dominated policymaking by influencing the Health Ministry, including direct private negotiations with the tobacco industry which violate Article 5.3’s implementing guidelines of the World Health Organization Frameowrk Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).Conclusions. The Costa Rica experience demonstrates the importance of vigirous implmentation of FCTC Article 5.3 which insulates public health policymaking from industry interference.

Keywords: Social; and; Behavioral; Sciences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-02-06
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