Doctors launched new online resource to get the true facts out about tobacco

The BMA's Tobacco Control Resource Centre (TCRC) has launched 'Tobacco FactFile' (www.tobaccofactfile.org). It is an online database designed for health professionals, educationalists, the public and the media. 'Tobacco FactFile' is the first one-stop information source about tobacco of its kind.

All information produced by 'Tobacco FactFile' has a quality stamp as it has been peer-reviewed by 'Tobacco FactFile's' editorial board.

In a world where misinformation and myth are common, 'Tobacco FactFile' presents the hard truth about the global tobacco epidemic. It can be difficult to get hold of reliable information on the true impact of smoking especially when powerful commercial interests are at play, said Dr Vivienne Nathanson, BMA Head of Science and Ethics.

'Tobacco FactFile' differs from other databases currently available online. Rather than being a traditional bibliographic database, it can provide ready access to key pieces of information with the assurance that experts in the field have selected these.

Effective tobacco control policies must be firmly rooted in the evidence. 'Tobacco FactFile' presents reliable information on the true consequences of tobacco use. A treasury of information for tobacco control, said professor Sir Richard Doll, whose pioneering research first demonstrated the link between smoking and lung cancer.

The database is also available in German, French and Spanish.

Visitors to 'FactFile' can sign up to receive a randomly selected fact every week or month. They can also put a banner on their own website; the banner displays a new fact each time the page is refreshed.

The European Commission funded the development of the database and this will continue until 2006.