Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
SPECTRUM Consortium, UK.
BMJ Glob Health. 2021 Feb;6(2). doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003543.
Most non-communicable diseases are preventable and largely driven by the consumption of harmful products, such as tobacco, alcohol, gambling and ultra-processed food and drink products, collectively termed unhealthy commodities. This paper explores the links between unhealthy commodity industries (UCIs), analyses the extent of alignment across their corporate political strategies, and proposes a cohesive systems approach to research across UCIs.
We held an expert consultation on analysing the involvement of UCIs in public health policy, conducted an analysis of business links across UCIs, and employed taxonomies of corporate political activity to collate, compare and illustrate strategies employed by the alcohol, ultra-processed food and drink products, tobacco and gambling industries.
There are clear commonalities across UCIs' strategies in shaping evidence, employing narratives and framing techniques, constituency building and policy substitution. There is also consistent evidence of business links between UCIs, as well as complex relationships with government agencies, often allowing UCIs to engage in policy-making forums. This knowledge indicates that the role of all UCIs in public health policy would benefit from a common approach to analysis. This enables the development of a theoretical framework for understanding how UCIs influence the policy process. It highlights the need for a deeper and broader understanding of conflicts of interests and how to avoid them; and a broader conception of what constitutes strong evidence generated by a wider range of research types.
UCIs employ shared strategies to shape public health policy, protecting business interests, and thereby contributing to the perpetuation of non-communicable diseases. A cohesive systems approach to research across UCIs is required to deepen shared understanding of this complex and interconnected area and also to inform a more effective and coherent response.
大多数非传染性疾病是可以预防的，主要由有害产品的消费驱动，例如烟草、酒精、赌博和超加工食品和饮料产品，统称为不健康商品。本文探讨了不健康商品行业（UCIs）之间的联系，分析了它们的企业政治策略的一致性程度，并提出了一个跨 UCI 研究的综合系统方法。
我们就分析 UCI 参与公共卫生政策的问题举行了专家磋商，对 UCI 之间的业务联系进行了分析，并采用公司政治活动分类法来整理、比较和说明酒精、超加工食品和饮料产品、烟草和赌博行业所采用的策略。
在塑造证据、采用叙事和框架技术、建立选区和政策替代方面，各 UCI 的策略存在明显的共性。此外，还存在 UCI 之间存在业务联系的明确证据，以及与政府机构的复杂关系，这通常使 UCI 能够参与决策制定论坛。这些知识表明，所有 UCI 在公共卫生政策中的作用都将受益于一种共同的分析方法。这使我们能够为理解 UCI 如何影响政策制定过程制定一个理论框架。它强调了需要更深入和广泛地了解利益冲突以及如何避免利益冲突，以及更广泛地理解由更广泛的研究类型产生的有力证据的构成。
UCI 采用共享策略来塑造公共卫生政策，保护商业利益，从而促进非传染性疾病的持续存在。需要采用跨 UCI 的综合系统方法来加深对这一复杂和相互关联领域的共同理解，并为更有效和更一致的应对措施提供信息。
