Ethical dilemmas in providing tobacco to developing countries: the case of China

Abstract

We should recognize that we have a responsibility to people who live outside our own borders, and view ourselves as part of the global community. Looking at China we are faced with ethical dilemmas which require consideration. First, there is the ethical dilemma of business versus health. The opening and development of the tobacco business in China, which includes vigorous marketing, is considered against the health consequences of tobacco use which is estimated to cost 600,000 lives annually in China, rising to 2 million by 2,025 without effective tobacco control programmes. A second ethical dilemma is employment versus impoverishment, in which the opportunities for work in the tobacco industry are considered against a background of malnutrition caused in part by a proportion of household budgets used to buy tobacco, and the erosion of the land, as trees are used to produce tobacco. Gains have already been made in tobacco control in China, with the way open for much development in the future.