Big Tobacco

Pension fund tobacco investment "outrageous," says cancer researcher

USS's lame defense

One in five deaths caused by smoking

Smoking

(NaturalNews) Researchers in the UK who have dedicated their careers to fighting cancer were shocked to learn that their pension funds have invested hundreds of millions inScientists who receive their funding from Cancer Research UK (CRUK) are also participants in the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), a pension fund whose latest annual report reveals a £211m investment in British American Tobacco (BAT).The BAT investment is the pension fund's fifth biggest equity holding.Although CRUK ensures that its own employee pension funds are not invested in tobacco companies, the academic posts funded by the charity receive their pensions through the USS, which was worth £49 billion in 2015.One such CRUK-funded researcher, who chose to remain anonymous, toldCRUK's tobacco policy manager, George Butterworth, acknowledged the problem:However, the USS defends its investments in Big Tobacco, claiming that it is working with tobacco companies in an effort to "improve ethical, environmental and governance standards."The USS maintains that it is "an active and responsible shareowner, an approach which USS's trustee believes will protect and enhance the long-term value of the fund."From a statement released by the USS:In other words, the USS thinks it can be a positive influence on an industry responsible for one in four cancer deaths, and one which has consistently lied and cheated its way into billions in profits - with absolutely no regard for the millions of people it has addicted and killed.According to Action on Smoking & Health (ASH), tobacco is responsible for more than 20 percent of all deaths in the United States. http://www.natural.news ) killed an estimated 100 million people during the 20th century and could kill as many as 1 billion in this century.It's no wonder that UK cancer researchers are outraged to find that their pensions are invested in an industry that causes the very problem they are committed to fighting.As Prof. Martin McKee, European Public Health Association president, put it: "Given the hard work of so many of its members to eliminate the scourge of tobacco-related death and misery, it is simply unacceptable that USS should continue to invest in this discredited industry."