ASH Daily News for 03/06/2003
HEADLINES
ASH, 102 Clifton Street, LONDON, EC2A 4HW.
Tel 020 7739 5902 Fax 020 7613 0531
ASH Daily News
03 June 2003
HEADLINES
Fat people will have to diet if they want to see the doctor
I quit…. selling fags, that is
Smoking and blindness
Tobacco smugglers jailed
Altadis shares fall on $1.5bn Morocco bid
Stocks smoking again
French officials take on tobacco giants
FULL TEXT
Fat people will have to diet if they want to see the doctor
Overweight people and heavy smokers would have to sign contracts promising to diet or give up cigarettes in return for treatment, under radical new plans being drawn up by Labour.
Written contracts would set out the patient’s responsibilities while offering them help to cut down or quit smoking, lose weight, take more exercise or eat a more nutritious diet, The Times has learnt. Those who failed to keep their side of the bargain or kept missing appointments could be denied free care.
The contracts would also bind doctors to certain standards of care and to providing a formal channel of redress if they fail to measure up.
The plan is outlined in five new policy documents that have been put out for consultation among Labour Party members. They will be debated at the party conference this autumn, agreed in 2004 and form the basis of the next election manifesto.
The health service document describes the NHS as a “free, yet finite service” and states that Labour intends to stop wasting care resources. “The concept of reminding patients about the limits of the National Health Service and about their responsibility in using its resources sensibly is one we want to take forward.”
Full article:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-701379,00.html
Source: The Times, 3 June 2003
I quit…. selling fags, that is
A NEWSAGENT has waved goodbye to a £20,000-a-year profit after refusing to sell any more cigarettes.
Siva Pillay and his wife Brenda took the decision together on moral grounds. And yesterday they closed the cigarettes counter for good. Mr Pillay, 40, said: "We believe we were contributing to the detriment of people's health. We have to stand by our beliefs."
The couple, who have a four-year-old daughter, bought Dale Valley Stores in Southampton in March. But it didn't take them long to decide that they would rather live without one of their best sellers and weekly profits of at least £400. They gave customers three months notice to get used to the idea. Mr Pillay said: "There will be a small loss but our customers have been good in supporting us. "When people ask us why we have banned cigarettes, we just show them a packet which says: 'Smoking kills'. One customer has even said our stand would help him to give up because this is his local shop."
ASH, said: "It's extremely admirable to take a moral stance like this. It is brave but it shows cigarettes are not essential to the income of small shops."
Source: The Mirror, 3 June 2003
Smoking and blindness
The Daily Mail runs an article on blindness, informing the reader that half of stand to lose some sight by the times we hit our mid-70s. And the leading cause for this is Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD). People in their 50s have a 2 percent chance of getting ARMD; at 70 this rises to nearly 30 percent.
There is no cure for the condition and although most cases of ARMD are due to genetics, there are a number of lifestyle and diet factors that can affect the risk of getting ARMD. Smoking and drinking both contribute negatively.
Tobacco appears to interfere with the absorption of lutein, an important antioxidant that protects the retina from damage caused by ultraviolet light. Smokers are likely to have low levels of lutein and so are at greater risk of developing macular degeneration.
Source: Daily Mail, 3 June 2003
Tobacco smugglers jailed
Two men who tried to smuggle eight tonnes of tobacco into Kent through the Channel Tunnel have been jailed.
Graham Chadwick, 46, and Christopher Walton, 55, hid the tobacco in the back of their lorries among horse and plant feed in an attempt to evade almost £1m in tax.
The pair were caught by British customs checks at the UK Control Zone in France on 5 March and 26 March.
Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/2957878.stm
Source: BBC News Online, 2 June 2003
Altadis shares fall on $1.5bn Morocco bid
Altadis' shareholders will need one of their company's soothing Cuban cigars to recover from its purchase of Morocco's state-owned tobacco monopoly. The Franco-Spanish group is paying nearly 18 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for 80 per cent of Régie des Tabacs Marocains. This makes it the most expensive deal in the sector in recent times. Japan Tobacco paid a multiple of 14 times ebitda for RJR International and Imperial 12.7 times for Reemtsma.
Altadis's management has destroyed the reputation for caution acquired when it refused to overpay for Reemtsma, which went to Imperial, and Austria Tabak, acquired by Gallaher. But it was the failure to make any headway with these offers which explains Altadis's desperation this time round. It may also have felt it was not a strong contender for Italy's state-owned Eti.
RTM is a well-managed business with few opportunities for cost savings but it will take Altadis into the North African market. It does, however, leave shareholders fearful of the price management may be willing to pay in any subsequent deals needed to give the scale required in a fast-consolidating industry.
Source: The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal Europe, International Herald Tribune, 3 June 2003
Stocks smoking again
Cigarette stocks started to win back investors, after the industry recently won a big victory in a Florida appeals court. The court tossed out $145bn judgement against the major tobacco companies, diminishing one of the most serious legal challenges facing the industry.
It is tempting to say the stocks now have made their move, but the major cigarette makers, especially industry leader Altria Group, still trade reasonable valuations. Altria, makers of the Marlboro brand, rose 9.01 points to $42.31, while RJ Reynolds gained $3.66 to $34.69. British American Tobacco rallied $2.49 to $21.69.
Source: Barrons, 26 May 2003
French officials take on tobacco giants
A regional health authority in western France is suing four tobacco companies for the cost of treating thousands of cancer patients.
In the first case of its kind in France, the national health insurance fund (CPAM) in the city of Saint-Nazaire is demanding 18.6m euros from BAT-Rothmans, Philip Morris, JTI-Reynolds and Altadis. The CPAM says this is the amount it has spent on more than 1,000 people suffering from smoking-related diseases.
Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2957666.stm
Source: BBC Online, 2 June 2003
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Tel 020 7739 5902 Fax 020 7613 0531
ASH Daily News
03 June 2003
HEADLINES
Fat people will have to diet if they want to see the doctor
I quit…. selling fags, that is
Smoking and blindness
Tobacco smugglers jailed
Altadis shares fall on $1.5bn Morocco bid
Stocks smoking again
French officials take on tobacco giants
FULL TEXT
Fat people will have to diet if they want to see the doctor
Overweight people and heavy smokers would have to sign contracts promising to diet or give up cigarettes in return for treatment, under radical new plans being drawn up by Labour.
Written contracts would set out the patient’s responsibilities while offering them help to cut down or quit smoking, lose weight, take more exercise or eat a more nutritious diet, The Times has learnt. Those who failed to keep their side of the bargain or kept missing appointments could be denied free care.
The contracts would also bind doctors to certain standards of care and to providing a formal channel of redress if they fail to measure up.
The plan is outlined in five new policy documents that have been put out for consultation among Labour Party members. They will be debated at the party conference this autumn, agreed in 2004 and form the basis of the next election manifesto.
The health service document describes the NHS as a “free, yet finite service” and states that Labour intends to stop wasting care resources. “The concept of reminding patients about the limits of the National Health Service and about their responsibility in using its resources sensibly is one we want to take forward.”
Full article:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-701379,00.html
Source: The Times, 3 June 2003
I quit…. selling fags, that is
A NEWSAGENT has waved goodbye to a £20,000-a-year profit after refusing to sell any more cigarettes.
Siva Pillay and his wife Brenda took the decision together on moral grounds. And yesterday they closed the cigarettes counter for good. Mr Pillay, 40, said: "We believe we were contributing to the detriment of people's health. We have to stand by our beliefs."
The couple, who have a four-year-old daughter, bought Dale Valley Stores in Southampton in March. But it didn't take them long to decide that they would rather live without one of their best sellers and weekly profits of at least £400. They gave customers three months notice to get used to the idea. Mr Pillay said: "There will be a small loss but our customers have been good in supporting us. "When people ask us why we have banned cigarettes, we just show them a packet which says: 'Smoking kills'. One customer has even said our stand would help him to give up because this is his local shop."
ASH, said: "It's extremely admirable to take a moral stance like this. It is brave but it shows cigarettes are not essential to the income of small shops."
Source: The Mirror, 3 June 2003
Smoking and blindness
The Daily Mail runs an article on blindness, informing the reader that half of stand to lose some sight by the times we hit our mid-70s. And the leading cause for this is Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD). People in their 50s have a 2 percent chance of getting ARMD; at 70 this rises to nearly 30 percent.
There is no cure for the condition and although most cases of ARMD are due to genetics, there are a number of lifestyle and diet factors that can affect the risk of getting ARMD. Smoking and drinking both contribute negatively.
Tobacco appears to interfere with the absorption of lutein, an important antioxidant that protects the retina from damage caused by ultraviolet light. Smokers are likely to have low levels of lutein and so are at greater risk of developing macular degeneration.
Source: Daily Mail, 3 June 2003
Tobacco smugglers jailed
Two men who tried to smuggle eight tonnes of tobacco into Kent through the Channel Tunnel have been jailed.
Graham Chadwick, 46, and Christopher Walton, 55, hid the tobacco in the back of their lorries among horse and plant feed in an attempt to evade almost £1m in tax.
The pair were caught by British customs checks at the UK Control Zone in France on 5 March and 26 March.
Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/2957878.stm
Source: BBC News Online, 2 June 2003
Altadis shares fall on $1.5bn Morocco bid
Altadis' shareholders will need one of their company's soothing Cuban cigars to recover from its purchase of Morocco's state-owned tobacco monopoly. The Franco-Spanish group is paying nearly 18 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for 80 per cent of Régie des Tabacs Marocains. This makes it the most expensive deal in the sector in recent times. Japan Tobacco paid a multiple of 14 times ebitda for RJR International and Imperial 12.7 times for Reemtsma.
Altadis's management has destroyed the reputation for caution acquired when it refused to overpay for Reemtsma, which went to Imperial, and Austria Tabak, acquired by Gallaher. But it was the failure to make any headway with these offers which explains Altadis's desperation this time round. It may also have felt it was not a strong contender for Italy's state-owned Eti.
RTM is a well-managed business with few opportunities for cost savings but it will take Altadis into the North African market. It does, however, leave shareholders fearful of the price management may be willing to pay in any subsequent deals needed to give the scale required in a fast-consolidating industry.
Source: The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal Europe, International Herald Tribune, 3 June 2003
Stocks smoking again
Cigarette stocks started to win back investors, after the industry recently won a big victory in a Florida appeals court. The court tossed out $145bn judgement against the major tobacco companies, diminishing one of the most serious legal challenges facing the industry.
It is tempting to say the stocks now have made their move, but the major cigarette makers, especially industry leader Altria Group, still trade reasonable valuations. Altria, makers of the Marlboro brand, rose 9.01 points to $42.31, while RJ Reynolds gained $3.66 to $34.69. British American Tobacco rallied $2.49 to $21.69.
Source: Barrons, 26 May 2003
French officials take on tobacco giants
A regional health authority in western France is suing four tobacco companies for the cost of treating thousands of cancer patients.
In the first case of its kind in France, the national health insurance fund (CPAM) in the city of Saint-Nazaire is demanding 18.6m euros from BAT-Rothmans, Philip Morris, JTI-Reynolds and Altadis. The CPAM says this is the amount it has spent on more than 1,000 people suffering from smoking-related diseases.
Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2957666.stm
Source: BBC Online, 2 June 2003
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Unsubscribe:
Public subscribers: http://www.ash.org.uk/?unsubscribe
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