WHO warns that these four industries cause 19 million deaths worldwide each year

MADRID (EUROPA PRESS) – A report from the World Health Organization in the European region (WHO Europe) warns of four specific industries that are “fully or partially” responsible for 2.7 million deaths per year in Europe: tobacco, food ultra-processed, fossil fuels and alcohol.

These four industries cause 19 million deaths a year in the world, that is, 34% of total deaths. Likewise, they impact efforts to prevent and control non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes, and their risk factors, such as tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy diets and obesity. .

The report, presented in Brussels, explains how the consolidation of these industrial sectors and others, into a small number of “powerful” transnational companies, has allowed them to exercise “significant power” over the political and legal contexts in which they operate, and obstruct public interest regulations that could affect their profit margins.

Therefore, the WHO calls on governments to put in place mechanisms to identify conflicts of interest and protect public policies from industry interference.

Likewise, this document, which is called ‘Trade determinants of non-communicable diseases in the WHO European region’, also sheds light on the “wide” range of tactics that industries employ to maximize profits and “undermine” the public health, in the words of the WHO.

“Four industries kill at least 7,000 people every day in our region. The same large business entities block regulation that would protect the public from harmful products and marketing, and protect health policy from industry interference,” he said. the WHO regional director for Europe, Hans Henri P. Kluge.

“The industry’s tactics include exploiting vulnerable people through targeted marketing strategies, misleading consumers and making false claims about the benefits of its products or its environmental credentials,” he said, adding that these strategies “threaten” the achievements public health of the last century and prevent countries from achieving their health goals.

WHO Europe will work with policy makers to strengthen plans to protect against and reduce the harmful influence of the industry. “Today we provide irrefutable evidence of harmful business practices and products, and we say: people must come before profits, always,” he said.

THE “PLAYS” OF THE INDUSTRY

The report shows how commercial actors in various sectors, including fossil fuels, tobacco, alcohol, food and meat, among others, carry out almost identical practices to shape structural, political and information environments.

According to the WHO, its main objectives are to generate profits, maximize product sales and boost consumption. “The pharmaceutical and medical device industries, in their own way, participate in shaping public policies to favor their products and benefits,” criticized Kluge.

To this end, he says, the industry “spends significant resources to oppose public interest regulation, shape scientific evidence and public discourse, and externalize the cost of the harm they cause to people and their environments, thus fueling the burden of NCDs”.

This set of tactics, called the “industry playbook,” is designed to influence entire systems — healthcare, political, economic and media — to benefit its own interests, “causing significant health and social harm.” “.

WHAT ARE THESE TACTICS

The report presents a series of case studies illustrating the “corporate capture” of public policy and policy-making, with impacts on all areas of people’s lives.

Specifically, he writes how “big industry” uses overt and covert methods to delay, deter and block NCD policies, such as tobacco control measures and mandatory nutritional and health labeling of foods and alcoholic beverages.

Additionally, the document details some of the industry’s harmful practices around disease management, such as the unequal pricing and availability of cancer drugs, and the promotion of non-evidence-based screening tests and regulated.

Common strategies range from political lobbying and the spread of misinformation and disinformation in the media, to harmful financial practices and marketing strategies targeting children and young people.

“For too long we have considered risk factors to be primarily related to individual choices. We have to reframe the problem as a systemic problem, where policy has to counteract hyperconsumption environments, restrict marketing and end interference in policy making,” said Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health, Frank Vandenbroucke, who participated in the presentation of the report.

For his part, Dr. Gauden Galea, strategic advisor to the Regional Director of Noncommunicable Diseases and Innovation of the WHO Regional Office for Europe, pointed out that countries should report on their progress at the United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs that will be held in September 2025. “All our efforts – Member States, civil society, academia and international organizations – will be required to shield public policies and protect future generations from preventable chronic diseases,” he concluded.