Lobbying Transparency Needed to Safeguard Public Health
Caroline Cerny, Prof Sir Ian Gilmore, and Katharine Jenner have welcomed the ethics and integrity commission's recommendations to improve transparency around lobbying. The experts, representing health organizations, argue that companies profiting from harmful products like tobacco, alcohol, and unhealthy food have repeatedly sought to influence public health policies.
Research from around the world has documented efforts by these industries to deny, dilute, and delay measures aimed at reducing harm. Instead, they promote approaches more favorable to commercial interests. According to the letter, 'Too often, that lobbying takes place behind closed doors with no opportunity for scrutiny.'
Greater Openness as a Safeguard
The commission's recommendations, reported on 9 July, call for all lobbying to be publicly declared in transparency laws. The letter states that greater openness is an important safeguard against undue influence and a vital first step toward ensuring public policy is developed in the public interest.
Decisions affecting the nation's health should be informed by the best available evidence and made transparently. The public has a right to know who is seeking to influence those decisions and how that influence is being exercised. Transparency is essential to building trust and protecting the integrity of policymaking.
The letter was signed by Caroline Cerny, deputy chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health; Prof Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance; and Katharine Jenner, executive director of the Obesity Health Alliance.
