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Location
Online
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Dates
  • December 13, 2021 from 12:00pm to 1:00pm

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This seminar is part of the series “Health Inc: Corporations, capitalism, and commercial determinants of health”, co-hosted by the Centre for Global Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto

About Seminar Two

Industry denormalisation as a public health and policy strategy is applicable to a number of public health problems that have an industry ‘vector.’ These include the epidemic of tobacco-related disease, the current opioid overdose crisis, and emerging issues related to the legalisation of cannabis. Originating in the field of tobacco control, industry denormalisation is a strategy that aims to make visible and address the industrial sources of public health harms resulting from the promotion of hyper-consumption, deceptive marketing practices, or industry interference in scientific research or public policy. Numerous industries that manufacture products that may be harmful to health, including tobacco, alcohol, and prescription drugs, have sought protection from legal and regulatory action by promoting the discourse that they are normal, legal industries selling normal, legal products. Advocates of industry denormalisation seek to reverse this process.

Industry denormalisation is frequently perceived to be at odds with a harm reduction approach. For example, the tobacco control community is polarised in relation to the promotion of e-cigarettes to reduce the harms of cigarette smoking and potential partnerships with tobacco or e-cigarette companies in achieving this goal. A similar trend may be occurring with the opioid overdose crisis. Ongoing litigation against opioid manufacturers suggests the promotional activities of the pharmaceutical industry including sponsorship of pain-related educational materials and activities were the initial drivers of over-prescription and the resulting opioid-related morbidity and mortality. In looking to reduce the harms related to opioid use, however, clinicians, researchers, and policymakers remain open to industry partnerships designed to widely disseminate and promote the use of opioid agonists such as buprenorphine-naloxone, for example. In this month’s seminar, we examine ways that industry denormalisation and harm reduction might work synergistically to create safer environments for substance use.

Speakers

Abhimanyu Sud, PhD candidate IHPME, Assistant Professor Dept of Family and Community Medicine

Daniel Buchman, Bioethicist and Independent Scientist, CAMH, Adjunct Assistant Professor Dalla Lana