Rachel Robertson
Aim: To survey medical students attitudes on funding sourced from tobacco, alcohol and gambling (TAG) profits.
Methods: An online survey was conducted between June and August 2016. Questions included asking whether they thought it would be acceptable if student organisations or organisations representing doctors accepted funding from TAG profits.
Results: 543 New Zealand medical students completed the survey. For student organisations, 82.7% of students said it would not be acceptable to accept funding from tobacco profits, with 3.3% unsure. For funding sourced from alcohol, 68.5% said it would not be acceptable, with 9.6% being unsure. For funding sourced from gambling profits, 77.3% said it would not be acceptable, with 7.6% unsure.
When asked regarding organisations representing doctors, 86.7% said it would not be acceptable to accept funding from tobacco profits, with 2.6% unsure. For funding sourced from alcohol, 76.6% said it would not be acceptable, with 7.6% being unsure. For funding sourced from gambling profits, 80.5% said it would not be acceptable, with 7.2% unsure.
Conclusions: Majority of New Zealand medical students do not think student organisations or organisations representing doctors should accept funding from TAG profits.
