CORE Presented at EADPH Conference 2024

Professor Richard Watt attended the 28th European Association of Dental Public Health (EADPH) Congress in Heraklion, Crete on 3-5 October 2024 to present findings from CORE study 2.1 on Commercial Determinants. The poster presentation focused on the corporate political activities of the ultra-processed food and drinks industry in Colombia, through systematic thematic analysis of documents obtained from publicly available sources. The methodology used in this study was adapted from an existing framework for monitoring corporate political activities and included analysis of industry websites, as well as selected industry social media accounts.

The study identified the corporate political activities of several prominent local and multinational corporations operating within Colombia, including social responsibility activities, efforts by corporations to promote industry self-regulation and activities to oppose sugar sweetened beverage taxation. The findings of this study in Colombia underline the complexity of corporate political activities which impact public health policy and the need for greater transparency regarding industry influence. This study will also be conducted in Brazil, India, and Kenya.