Telenor Health Decided to Refund FSFW Grants!

Telenor Health, a digital healthcare service owned by Norway-based Telenor business group, has recently decided to refund the $ 74,400 worth grant received from Foundation for Smoke-Free World (FSFW), a pseudo anti-tobacco organization funded by multinational tobacco giant Philip Morris International (PMI). On May 22, PROGGA sent an alert to Bangladeshi and global public health and anti-tobacco activists on the receipt of FSFW fund by Telenor Health authority. The Telenor authority was also contacted on this issue, citing the tobacco industry affiliation of FSFW. In a recent e-mail correspondence with an Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) member, Catherine Stang Lund, Acting VP Communications, External Relations Asia of Telenor Group, commented, “Telenor Group has sold the assets and business of Telenor Health to Grameen Telecom Trust (GTT), and we are now in the process closing down the Telenor Health company. In that process we have decided to pay back what Telenor Health has received of the grant from FSFW, namely USD 74,000.”

It should be noted that previously BRAC, a globally leading NGO, decided to return FSFW fund worth USD 64,115 in July 2019. PROGGA hopes other recipients of FSFW fund will follow BRAC and Telenor Health’s footsteps and the government of Bangladesh will adopt regulatory measures preventing further FSFW fund in Bangladesh.