TSANZ calls for disclosure of tobacco and vaping industry interests in publicly funded medicines
Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand
The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) has released a proposal calling on the Australian government to implement a transparency declaration mechanism for pharmaceutical companies to disclose any tobacco, vaping and nicotine products industry links for medicines receiving public subsidies through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
Australian taxpayers contribute more than $20 billion each year to PBS medicines. There is currently no requirement for pharmaceutical companies seeking a PBS listing to declare whether tobacco, vaping and nicotine products industry interests hold any ownership stakes, licensing rights, royalty arrangements or other financially beneficial interests in those medicines or their supply chains.
“Australians have the right to know when the money spent on publicly funded medicines ultimately benefits the tobacco, vaping and nicotine products industry,” says TSANZ President, Professor Natasha Smallwood.
“We are not asking for any medicine to be banned or restricting patients' access to treatment. We are asking companies to disclose if the tobacco, vaping and nicotine products industry benefits from public money.”
Under the TSANZ proposal for PBS supply chain disclosure, companies applying for PBS listing would submit a declaration disclosing any actual, potential, or perceived tobacco, vaping and nicotine products industry interests across their corporate group and supply chains, together with the steps taken to identify and address those risks.
The proposal suggests that declarations would be published alongside existing PBS documentation, recorded on a public register and periodically audited. The model is drawn from Australia's Modern Slavery Act, under which large organisations already report annually on risks in their operations and supply chains.
TSANZ views this as an emerging challenge requiring action as tobacco, vaping, and nicotine product companies expand into health and pharmaceutical markets through acquisitions, licensing arrangements, investments, and intellectual property interests.
The proposal points to cases where tobacco-linked commercial interests have entered conventional pharmaceutical pathways, including Philip Morris International’s 2021 acquisition of Vectura, a respiratory medicines company, and delgocitinib, a medicine originally discovered and developed by Japan Tobacco’s then-pharmaceutical arm, recommended for PBS listing in November 2025.
Mr Vincent So, TSANZ CEO, said that disclosure would help protect confidence in the systems behind publicly funded medicines.
“Clinicians need confidence not only in the medicines that they prescribe, but in the integrity of the systems that fund them,” Mr So said.
“This is a practical reform. It does not ask doctors or patients to navigate complex corporate supply chains. It asks companies seeking public subsidy to be upfront about whether tobacco, vaping and nicotine products industry interests sit anywhere behind the medicine.”
TSANZ is calling on the Australian Government, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee and pharmaceutical sponsors to work together on a disclosure mechanism that is practical, transparent and fair.
The full proposal, A Clean Supply Chain for Publicly Funded Medicines, is available here.
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About TSANZ
The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) is the peak professional body representing more than 1,800 respiratory health professionals across medicine, science, nursing, allied health, and research. TSANZ provides evidence-based advice, delivers professional training, and supports research to improve lung health outcomes across Australia and New Zealand.
Contact details:
Liam Kiss
Senior Advisor - Policy & Media
Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand
[email protected]
+61 2 9170 2620