The American Red Cross risks damaging the reputation of the global Red Cross brand because of its refusal to stop accepting donations from tobacco companies, a top official with the humanitarian network says.
These concerns are prompting the International Red Cross and public health organizations to press the U.S. group to end its longtime policy of taking tobacco money, Reuters has learned.
The International Red Cross, which recently rolled out a global disease prevention program with a strong anti-smoking component, hasn't accepted tobacco donations since 2008. Most of the group's 189 national affiliates don't accept such money either, but the powerful U.S. member does, as do about half a dozen other countries, including Germany, Russia and Vietnam.