Brazil will register 31,2 thousand new cases of lung cancer due to smoking – more than 400 people per day – according to data provided to A Coluna by the National Cancer Institute. However, this scenario does not cool down the advances of the company Souza Cruz, the largest cigarette manufacturer in South America and subsidiary of British American Tobacco. The company has recently suffered bitter upsets in the market.
As if it was not enough seeing half of its profits dumped in a high tax burden applied to the sector in the country, without any change of scenery, the digital magazine Crusoé revealed that the company donated R$ 2,4 million – way above the market average – to advertising events from the Institute of Public Law (Instituto de DireitoPúblico, IDP), associated with minister Gilmar Mendes, from the Brazilian Supreme Court. In February 2018, the Brazilian manufacturer from BAT lost and saw the ADI 4874 – impelled by the National Industry Confederation and point of interest for the company – go up in smoke in the Brazilian Supreme Court, as it faced the ANVISA resolution that banned aroma additives in cigarettes.
In Brazil, the disease was responsible for 26498 deaths in 2015, according to INCA. This year, 18,7 thousand cases in men and 12,5 thousand in women were estimated to be caused by this type of cancer.
In a press release, the company Souza Cruz informed that it has a tradition of supporting universities (as in the case of the IDP) “in projects aligned with the company’s values: legality, sustainability and diversity” and that it sponsored the Institute from 2007 to 2016.