Health schools at 17 universities across the US and Canada have ruled out accepting research grants from The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, a foundation dedicated to ending smoking which received substantial funding from cigarette maker Philip Morris, Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.

Deans of the 17 public health schools signed a statement last week stating they would not accept research money from the foundation. The statement said the foundation is too closely tied to the tobacco industry and also challenged Philip Morris on its intentions in funding the foundation. Philip Morris, which pledged almost USD 1 billion to the foundation, should stop selling cigarettes if it wants to end tobacco smoking, the statement reportedly read.
“Further, both the tobacco industry and Philip Morris International have a long history of funding ‘research’ in ways meant to purposely confuse the public and advance their own interests,” the newspaper quoted the statement as saying.
Signatories of the letter included leaders and deans of public health schools at West Virginia University, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Ohio State University, the University of Kentucky, Rutgers University, the University of Maryland, and the University of South Carolina, the newspaper reported.