20 million in the fight against Big Tobacco’s disinformation campaign

Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York, has decided to create STOP (Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products). Every three years, the foundation will be endowed with $20 million to help fight Big Tobacco’s propaganda campaign against vaping.

A former smoker himself, the billionaire has decided to devote part of his wealth to fight cigarette addiction. Today, he announced that there are three organizations in charge of denouncing the lies propagated by Big Tobacco. The stakes are high, indeed. Every year, tobacco manufacturers spend astronomical sums of money to be able to denigrate vaping products.

Three institutes in different countries will benefit from subsidies granted by STOP. These include the United Kingdom (University of Bath), Thailand (the Global Centre for Good Governance in Tobacco Control), and France (The International Union against Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases). These countries will join forces by keeping an eye on the tobacco industry.

Money to combat Big Tobacco’s global influence

Michael Bloomberg’s foundation has already invested over a billion dollars since 2007 to fight tobacco addiction throughout the globe. His association points out that 80% of smokers throughout the world live in developing countries. According to WHO, cigarette addiction is responsible for the deaths of 7 million people per year.

Since the advent of cigarettes, tobacco manufacturers have had a monopoly on the market. Big Tobacco is thus not afraid to carry out anti-vaping propaganda campaigns. But according to the WHO director, Big Tobacco’s profits from cigarette sales would be useful in the fight against tobacco-related illnesses.