governing political realities in ncd agenda setting in lmics: a case of the carrot and the stick?; comment on “national public health surveillance of corporations in key unhealthy commodity industries: a scoping review and framework synthesis”

In their scoping review bennett et al present a summary framework for public health surveillance of unhealthy commodity industries (ucis) that impact human health, which is important in view of the rising burden of non-communicable diseases (ncds), especially in low- and middle-income countries (lmics). the authors focus on the tobacco, alcohol and food and beverage industry and discuss who should “own” the process; where in the public sector administration the responsibility should lie; and how and which practices or organizations to monitor. they also argue that the monitoring should transition from academia and civil society to (sub)-national governments because of their central role in the protection of public health. this commentary argues that the challenges related to ncd policy-making in lmics should be viewed from within a political economy perspective and that support for uci monitoring has to be bolstered by independent accountability mechanisms and rights-based advocacy at national and global level.