Lentera Anak Highlights Growing Academic-Tobacco Industry Links

Lentera Anak’s monitoring of tobacco industry interference (GIT) from September 2025 to May 2026 revealed academic and research involvement in industry collaborations, raising potential conflicts of interest.

Lentera Anak is an independent organisation part of the Save Our Surroundings (SOS) Coalition, a movement comprising over 50 organisations committed to fostering healthy communities and environments.

The monitoring also found academics promoting pro-industry narratives through economic, legal, and harm reduction approaches at seminars and academic forums, indicating attempts to influence tobacco control regulations.

The discussion titled ‘Campus at a Crossroads: Reclaiming University Integrity’ took place at the Indonesian Conference on Tobacco Control (ICTOH 2026) on 22 May 2026 at the Airlangga Shari’a and Entrepreneurship Education Centre (ASEEC) Tower, Universitas Airlangga’s Dharmawangsa Campus in Surabaya.

Lisda Sundari, Chair of Lentera Anak and speaker at the event, called the situation highly ironic, stressing that universities must maintain independence as objective knowledge producers and public policy foundations serving societal interests.

‘We urge universities to safeguard academic integrity to ensure scientific knowledge production and policy recommendations are evidence-based,’ she said.

Her monitoring identified 18 universities, 13 research institutions, and 50 academics/researchers disseminating economic narratives through media, shifting public health concerns to economic issues such as employment and SMEs.

Lisda noted their language was deliberately moderate—using terms like ‘balance’, ‘risk reduction’, and ‘innovation’—making it more palatable in policy spaces.

She cited BRIN researchers promoting e-cigarettes as a global tobacco innovation to reduce risks from combustion.

‘The dissemination of such narratives not only normalises industry messaging but also shapes public opinion and influences health regulation framing,’ Lisda added.

’Mouhamad Bigwanto, Chair of Ruang Kebijakan Kesehatan Indonesia (RUKKI), warned academics and health professionals to be vigilant against conflicts of interest infiltrating research, conferences, and publications.

Bigwanto outlined the tobacco industry’s four-layered strategy: rejecting scientific evidence, creating false narratives to confuse the public and policymakers, forming neutral fronts with academics or research institutions, and finally leveraging political power—such as state research bodies—to influence policy.

‘Academics must exercise caution as the industry often uses academic legitimacy to bolster favourable narratives despite contradicting public health evidence,’ he said.

‘Data shows academic-industry collaborations in tobacco lead to unethical practices, such as suppressing unfavourable findings,’ Bigwanto added.

’RUKKI’s 2023-2024 study found 19 researchers supporting the tobacco industry during debates on the Draft Health Bill and Draft Government Regulation on Health, some allegedly having ties to pro-tobacco organisations.

‘Global educational institutions have strengthened academic integrity policies, including research ethics codes, funding transparency, and Smoke-Free Campus rules,’ he said.

‘These measures not only enforce smoke-free environments but also reinforce institutional commitment to public health,’ Bigwanto stated.

‘Danang Widoyoko, Secretary-General of Transparency International Indonesia, emphasised university integrity is integral to good governance. Conflicts of interest may not always breach law but degrade decision-making quality,’ he said.

‘In academia, the damage is more severe as it affects knowledge production influencing public policy,’ he added.

‘University-industry relationships risk shifting research focus from public health to industrial economic justification. Tobacco-funded research can provide scientific legitimacy to challenge health policies, eroding academia’s public service role,’ Danang explained.

‘Therefore, I call on academics, students, and stakeholders to reclaim academic spaces as independent, accountable, and public-interest-driven arenas,’ he concluded.