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Big tobacco company forces access to data

The world’s largest tobacco company has reportedly forced access to survey data gathered by health professionals on school students to fight plain packaging.

British American Tobacco recently obtained surveys conducted by Cancer Institute NSW via freedom of information requests, Fairfax Media revealed on Thursday.

The same lawyer who helped the company get the NSW data also made a request for Cancer Council Victoria findings, which the health body contested.

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British American Tobacco claimed it used the study results to fight ‘mistaken’ plain packaging laws which forced companies to remove logos and other branding from cigarette packets.

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Surveys ask kids their thoughts on smoking. How’d they’d get them, which brands they know. Photo: ABC

“Instead of youth smoking rates going down because of plain packaging, they’re going up,” a company spokesperson claimed.

“[The company hopes] other countries around the world don’t make the same mistake.”

Public health advocates told Fairfax the company could use the tax-payer-funded public health data to hone marketing strategies to Australian school children and could be shared with alcohol companies.

In Victoria, the Cancer Council has spent thousands of dollars fighting the freedom of information request from British American Tobacco, claiming child confidential would be breached if the request was granted.

“Provision of such information would be highly detrimental to Victoria’s children,” Cancer Council Victoria director Ian Harper said.

The survey responses completed by thousands of school children detailed their attitudes to smoking and drinking, including how they perceiveed smoking, brand recognition and how they might obtain cigarettes.

In 2011, United Kingdom public outcry forced tobacco giant Phillip Morris International to stop similar attempts to obtain child survey data.

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