Implementation of the polluter pay’s principle in tobacco control in the UK: a stakeholder analysis
Abstract Background The polluter’s pay principle (PPP) aims to internalise external costs and assign liability to the polluter for the harmful cost of their products to society. Tobacco companies continue to manufacture and sell harmful cigarettes, earning billions in profits each year from these pr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-11-01
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| Series: | BMC Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-17219-w |
| _version_ | 1797555951727804416 |
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| author | Marissa J. Smith Chris Patterson Christina Buckton Shona Hilton |
| author_facet | Marissa J. Smith Chris Patterson Christina Buckton Shona Hilton |
| author_sort | Marissa J. Smith |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The polluter’s pay principle (PPP) aims to internalise external costs and assign liability to the polluter for the harmful cost of their products to society. Tobacco companies continue to manufacture and sell harmful cigarettes, earning billions in profits each year from these products. Meanwhile, governments and their people are left to ‘clean up’ and deal with the detrimental health consequences. This paper explores with expert stakeholders how the PPP could be implemented within the context of tobacco control in the United Kingdom (UK). Methods Twenty-four semi-structured interviews and two follow-up discussion groups were conducted with UK and international experts on tobacco control, public health, economics, or law from the academic, public, private and third sector. Participants considered the facilitators and barriers to implementing the PPP to tobacco control in the UK. Thematic analysis was employed, aided by NVivo 12, and data were compared to examine the views expressed by the different types of experts. Results Stakeholders favoured the implementation of the PPP in the context of tobacco control and indicated that it could be acceptable and feasible to implement and that it would likely have support from policymakers and the public alike. Stakeholders unanimously agreed that any legislation and administration should be free from tobacco industry influence; however, differences arose concerning who should oversee the implementation. Conclusion The PPP from environmental law was predominantly seen as an approach that could be usefully applied to the tobacco industry. However, there is no one size fits all template, therefore its implementation would need to be adapted to fit the UK context. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:54:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-63f31b11ab0d4db88395936233bb2855 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:54:56Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-63f31b11ab0d4db88395936233bb28552023-11-20T11:09:46ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582023-11-012311910.1186/s12889-023-17219-wImplementation of the polluter pay’s principle in tobacco control in the UK: a stakeholder analysisMarissa J. Smith0Chris Patterson1Christina Buckton2Shona Hilton3MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of GlasgowMRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of GlasgowMRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of GlasgowMRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of GlasgowAbstract Background The polluter’s pay principle (PPP) aims to internalise external costs and assign liability to the polluter for the harmful cost of their products to society. Tobacco companies continue to manufacture and sell harmful cigarettes, earning billions in profits each year from these products. Meanwhile, governments and their people are left to ‘clean up’ and deal with the detrimental health consequences. This paper explores with expert stakeholders how the PPP could be implemented within the context of tobacco control in the United Kingdom (UK). Methods Twenty-four semi-structured interviews and two follow-up discussion groups were conducted with UK and international experts on tobacco control, public health, economics, or law from the academic, public, private and third sector. Participants considered the facilitators and barriers to implementing the PPP to tobacco control in the UK. Thematic analysis was employed, aided by NVivo 12, and data were compared to examine the views expressed by the different types of experts. Results Stakeholders favoured the implementation of the PPP in the context of tobacco control and indicated that it could be acceptable and feasible to implement and that it would likely have support from policymakers and the public alike. Stakeholders unanimously agreed that any legislation and administration should be free from tobacco industry influence; however, differences arose concerning who should oversee the implementation. Conclusion The PPP from environmental law was predominantly seen as an approach that could be usefully applied to the tobacco industry. However, there is no one size fits all template, therefore its implementation would need to be adapted to fit the UK context.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-17219-wTobacco control policiesPolluter payPublic health |
| spellingShingle | Marissa J. Smith Chris Patterson Christina Buckton Shona Hilton Implementation of the polluter pay’s principle in tobacco control in the UK: a stakeholder analysis BMC Public Health Tobacco control policies Polluter pay Public health |
| title | Implementation of the polluter pay’s principle in tobacco control in the UK: a stakeholder analysis |
| title_full | Implementation of the polluter pay’s principle in tobacco control in the UK: a stakeholder analysis |
| title_fullStr | Implementation of the polluter pay’s principle in tobacco control in the UK: a stakeholder analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Implementation of the polluter pay’s principle in tobacco control in the UK: a stakeholder analysis |
| title_short | Implementation of the polluter pay’s principle in tobacco control in the UK: a stakeholder analysis |
| title_sort | implementation of the polluter pay s principle in tobacco control in the uk a stakeholder analysis |
| topic | Tobacco control policies Polluter pay Public health |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-17219-w |
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