Ricerc@Sapienza

Universities are institutions dedicated to improving life through the research and dissemination of knowledge. They facilitates the "peer to peer" communication among young people; the acquisition of knowledge and skills to improve personal and community health; the propagation of healthy lifestyles through the emulation of behavior.
Tobacco industry, through commercial policies, enlist young people and transform them, through dependence, into "loyal customers" for many years. The recent introduction of the "reduced risk" products, (the so-called "cold smoke" for example), are a threat for young people who might underestimate the dangers, not even completely known by the experts.
Universities and Scientific world that turn a blind eye to tobacco market, accepting the advantages offered by grants and donations from tobacco industry, become accomplices in spreading the "tobacco epidemic" because the funding comes directly from the sale of tobacco products. This "dirty" money causes illness, suffering and death.
Universities are invested with an important ethical responsibility to help the world reduce and eliminate the tobacco epidemic, with research, training and information.
Universities should have a policy statement that specifically prohibits academic bodies from accepting tobacco industry funding including grant funding.
In the U.S.A. several scientific journals no longer publish tobacco industry- supported researches.