Medical scientists must become more alert to the signs of industry infiltration into public health initiatives, researchers argue.
An analysis of the Brussels Declaration on the Ethics and Principles for Science and Society Policy-Making finds there was substantial input from the tobacco and alcohol industries in the document, which was meant to be a blueprint to guide policy and argues for the need to protect science from distortion by vested interests.
The work was well received by scientists at its launch at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Boston last year. However it “appears to be a vehicle for advancing the vested interests of certain corporate sectors,” write a trio of public health academics including Professor Mike Daube from Curtin University in Perth in a paper published in the journal Tobacco Control.
In an accompanying editorial, Professor Lisa Bero, from the University of Sydney, says it is surprising is how little awareness scientists and public health researchers have about industry infiltration tactics for shaping science policy to promote its own interests.
In ‘Ten Tips for Spotting Industry Involvement in Science Policy’, Professor Bero suggests scientists who receive an invitation to become involved in a public health initiative should view the following as seen as red flags: