A University of Bath research group that has helped alter attitudes towards the global tobacco industry and drive changes in government policies has been recognised for its work by the director-general of the World Health Organization.
The Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG) has exposed the industry’s attempts to weaken, block and delay tobacco control measures for more than a decade.
In addition to its academic research, it also incorporates the innovative knowledge-exchange platform Tobacco Tactics regarded as the ‘go to’ resource for tobacco industry insight, receiving hundreds of thousands of views each year.
It has been recognised by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the WHO in the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) Awards 2021, which reinforce the message of World No Tobacco Day on Monday May 31.
The awards honour those who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the policies and measures contained in the world’s first global health treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and its guidelines, particularly in relation to World No Tobacco Day.
TCRG, which is led by Prof Anna Gilmore, was nominated by the Brussels-based pressure group Smoke Free Partnership.
The award comes two years after TCRG was announced as one of the partners in STOP, a Bloomberg Philanthropies-funded global tobacco industry watchdog with a mission is to expose the tobacco industry strategies and tactics that undermine public health.
Prof Gilmore said: “It is a huge privilege to receive this special recognition award from the World Health Organization and the director-general. We are all enormously grateful to the WHO, to those who made and supported our nomination, as well as to those who have funded our research over many years.
“The research we produce is truly a joint effort and this award reflects the hard work and dedication of the whole team.
“We are also extremely fortunate to be part of a wider community of other academics, NGOs, advocates and policy makers, who share in our efforts and who are all working towards the same goal of improved public health.
“Through the work of TCRG and in partnership with others, we seek to produce research with impact and to enable a policy agenda which reduces smoking.”
University of Bath vice-chancellor Prof Ian White added: “It is a great honour for the Tobacco Control Research Group, and the University of Bath, to receive this award from the World Health Organization.
“For over 10 years now, TCRG’s prolific research on tobacco control has had real impact, contributing to a global effort to protect public health against the harms of tobacco.”
The award will be presented in an online ceremony organised by The WHO European Regional Office on June 8.
