Top officials of the Food and Drug Administration, which is in charge of drafting the regulations on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, confirmed in a congressional investigation on Tuesday that they solicited and received money from a foreign anti-tobacco organization funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charity of American billionaire Michael Bloomberg.
FDA director-general Rolando Enrique Domingo told the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability chaired by Rep. Michael Edgar Aglipay that the regulatory agency applied for and received a grant of $150,430 from the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) in 2016 mainly to hire “job order” employees who would draft the tobacco control policies of the agency.
The Union manages the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use Grants Program, a campaign that is dedicated to tobacco and vaping control policies.“We worked with the World Health Organization, the Asian Development Bank, and non-government organizations such as the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union).
The Union is a part of the Bloomberg Initiative grants program,” Domingo said during the hearing which was convened to discuss House Resolution 1396 filed by Deputy Speaker Rep. Deogracias Savellano and Nueva Ecija Rep. Estrellita Suansing to shed light on the receipt of private funding by the FDA and other government agencies and institutions.
Manila Standard Business – March 17, 2021.
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