BACKGROUND: Monitoring the tobacco industry, and holding it accountable, are essential for the success of tobacco control policies. Aligning with the principles of STOP, global tobacco industry watchdog, MANTHAN is a network of tobacco control experts, trained in industry monitoring on a mission to monitor and counter industry (nicotine/tobacco/harm reduction industries, their allies, and networks) behavior in India, that undermines public health, with a focus on grassroot level intels, that might be missed using online tools.
METHODS: Using the Delphi technique along with a set a four trained public health experts, the novel approach was validated, and a cohort of nine was secured. Employing the tobacco industry monitoring, research, and accountability (TIMRA) model, MANTHAN was trained through one induction and six catch-up sessions, intels were collected using online and offline channels, during January to September 2024. Sources of intels were local online investigation via Google search/alerts, news items, industry reports/documents, and social media handles, while ground-level informants flagged information using emails and telephone. The gathered evidence was stored in spreadsheets using Microsoft Excel (vs 2024), URLs: backup repository (Wayback machine) and image (.JPEG) files. Intel was categorized into themes: type of company, allies, type of tactic and sub-tactics, source and description of the information. Through persuasive discussions and critical thinking, MANTHAN network timely acted upon counteracting and mitigating TIIs by utilising existing policy instruments (including subnational FCTC 5.3 policy guidelines) and regulatory instruments at national and subnational level.
RESULTS: Of the 74 collected TII instances, CSR and allies/front groups were the most common tactic, 25 (33%) were counteracted and 11 (14%) were mitigated.
CONCLUSIONS: Employing TIMRA’s model, effective monitoring, and exposing TII in India has led to the creation of ‘policy windows’ aiding in pushing the implementation of the Ministry of Health’s code of conduct and the existing sub-national article 5.3 policies.