Conflicts of interest must be tackled to protect public health, argue researchers

A new peer‐reviewed article by academics at the University of Bath warns that unless governments take urgent steps to address conflicts of interest with harmful industries—including tobacco, alcohol, ultra‐processed food, gambling and fossil fuels—efforts to prevent disease and protect public health will fail.

The article appears in the Future Healthcare Journal, guest edited by broadcaster and academic Professor Chris van Tulleken. It is co‐authored by Professor Anna B Gilmore, Dr. Rachel A Barry and Dr. Alice Fabbri of the University of Bath’s Centre for 21st Century Public Health, Tobacco Control Research Group and Department for Health.

In their contribution, Gilmore, Barry and Fabbri focus on the tobacco industry—widely regarded as the original architect of tactics now used by many sectors to delay regulation and influence science and policy. The authors explore the urgent need to recognize and manage conflicts of interest (COIs), arguing that such action is a prerequisite for tackling the global health burden caused by harmful commercial products.

Drawing on decades of research and the lessons of tobacco control, the authors explain how industries with vested interests use partnerships, youth prevention programs, funding of science, and voluntary regulation schemes to position themselves as responsible actors—while blocking effective public health action behind the scenes.

Anna Gilmore, professor of public health, co‐director Centre for 21st Century Public Health at the University of Bath, said, “This government has recognized the urgent need to prevent and not just treat ill health, but it has not yet recognized that if the industries causing this harm are at the policy‐making table, we will not get the prevention policies we need. The public understand such conflicts. That is one reason why trust in public institutions is at an all‐time low. If this government is to restore this trust, deliver its promised cleanup of public life and prevent ill health, an essential first step is to exclude health‐harming industries from policy‐making.

“Without such action, the NHS will not cope with the vast scale of commercially driven health harms and British taxpayers will continue to effectively subsidize the hugely profitable tobacco, food, alcohol, gambling and fossil fuel industries causing this harm. The time for action is now.”

Dr. Rachel Barry, from the Centre for 21st Century Public Health, Tobacco Control Research Group and Department for Health, added, “If we are serious about putting human and planetary health above profit, we must stop allowing harmful industries to shape the science and policies meant to regulate them.”

Dr. Alice Fabbri from the Tobacco Control Research Group and Department for Health , remarked, “History is repeating itself as the tobacco industry has now resumed the problematic scientific practices it used in the past…Increasing evidence shows that other industry sectors engage in similar scientific strategies with the same goals. This is deeply concerning and requires urgent action.”

The article states, “If we are serious about putting human and planetary health above profit, we must stop allowing harmful industries to shape the science and policies meant to regulate them. From tobacco to alcohol, gambling, and ultra‐processed foods, there is overwhelming evidence that these industries use the same tactics to delay regulation, manipulate science, and present themselves as responsible actors—while continuing to cause significant harm. We must learn from tobacco control and put strong, legally binding safeguards in place across all sectors.

“Conflicts of interest are not about individual products—they stem from the fundamental divergence between the profit motives of industry and the public duty of governments and institutions. That’s why affected industries should not be sitting at the policy table or shaping public health strategies. The scale of commercially driven health harms is now so great that it threatens the sustainability of health systems like the NHS. Addressing these conflicts is not radical—it’s essential to good governance.”