DRITHI - CDOH

This research explores the evolution and determinants of public policies related to select psychoactive substances—tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, and opium—in India, from their industrial-scale production during colonial rule to the present. It examines how these policies have shifted over time and the extent to which powerful legal industries—despite their known public health harms—have influenced policy narratives, regulations, and market dynamics. By tracing these influences, the study aims to uncover the political and commercial interests driving policy change and continuity across historical periods. Beyond mapping policy trajectories, the project engages with global discourse on the Commercial Determinants of Health (CDoH)—a framework highlighting the role of commercial actors in shaping population health. It critically assesses the relevance of CDoH models in India, where socio-cultural, political, and economic conditions differ from high-income contexts where these frameworks are typically developed. The study also considers how Indian philosophical, normative, and policy traditions might enrich the conceptual tools used to understand commercial determinants in global health. Key research questions include: What explains major shifts in public policies related to these substances since the colonial era? What role have legal but harmful industries played in shaping these shifts? What bodies of knowledge and dominant discourses influence understandings of CDoH? And what Indian ethical, cultural, or policy perspectives could offer complementary insights? The project aims to inform public health research and policy reform in India. It seeks to generate evidence supporting the integration of CDoH considerations into national health agendas, influence resource allocation, strengthen regulations, and foster multi-sectoral partnerships. Ultimately, it will contribute to more accountable, health-promoting governance of psychoactive substances.

Shifting the gaze on implementation: examining the association between the implementation of tobacco control laws and prevalence of tobacco using data from a nationally representative survey. https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-023-16780-8. BMC Public Health. 11 October 2023

A realist evaluation of the implementation of a national tobacco control programme and policy in India. https://academic.oup.com/heapol/article/40/2/140/7741195?login=false. Oxford Academic. 24 Aug 2024

CHIGURU Adivasi Birth Cohort Study: A Protocol for Examining the Effects of Parental Substance Use on Child Development in Southern Indian Adivasi Communities. https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-3897825/v1. Research Square. 07 February 2024

Trends in Level of Implementation of the WHO FCTC Article 5.3 in India. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39280756/. National Library of Medicine. 12 September 2024

Is India on a path to reduce the tobacco industry's influence in tobacco control? Insights from the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index (2019-2023). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39371218/#:~:text=Results%3A%20The%20findings%20of%20the,slight%20increase%20in%20the%20score. National Library of Medicine. 19 September 2024

20th anniversary of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control coming into force: time for a step change in ambition. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00336-8/abstract00336-8/abstract). The LANCET. 01 March 2025

Towards assessing the tobacco control law enforcement systems within Indian states: a rapid review and document analysis. https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/10-229. Wellcome Open Research. 30 April 2025.

Book Chapter - Chapter 7, Public health approaches to tobacco control. In Arora M, Goenka S (eds) Public health approaches to health promotion.

Strengthening civil society actions to combat transnational corporations. https://blogs.bmj.com/bmjgh/2024/12/13/strengthening-civil-society-actions-to-combat-transnational-corporations/. BMJ Global Health. 13 December 2023.