ASH Daily News for 25 July 2008

Smokers should not have IVF treatment

According to doctors smokers should not be allowed to have fertility treatment.

In a survey to mark the 30th birthday of Louise Brown, the first test tube baby, more than half of 200 experts questioned said lifestyle factors such as smoking should be taken into account when deciding whether patients are allowed IVF.

They outnumbered the 29 per cent who agreed with the statement "access to IVF should be offered to all regardless of lifestyle".

It is thought three million IVF babies have been born and each year 32,000 people undergo fertility treatment in the UK.

The survey, conducted by the British Fertility Society (BFS) in conjunction with the Science Media Centre in London and the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (Eshre), found doctors believe infertility rates will continue to increase.

It also showed that 46 per cent of experts said new fertility treatments are being introduced "far too quickly" before they had been adequately tested to prove that they work.

The findings come after experts called for obese patients to be required to lose weight before having IVF treatment as being overweight reduces the chances of success.

Many primary care trusts in England place different social criteria on which couples can receive NHS funding for fertility treatment, including setting body mass index limits and denying treatment to smokers, those with previous children from another relationship and those considered too old or too young.

The survey also found experts believe anonymity should be reinstated for egg, sperm and embryo donors, despite changes introduced in 2005 that mean donors can be traced by their biological offspring. It was argued that the change would lead to a drop in the number of donors although this has been disputed.

More than 60 per cent of respondents agreed that donors should be anonymous and not have their identities revealed even to the children born as a result.

The majority of clinicians thought that more clinical trials should be carried out on new fertility treatments as they are being implemented too quickly.

Seven in ten support IVF being offered on the NHS and the vast majority believe too many people are being asked to pay for treatment.

Sheena Young, of Infertility Network UK, said smoking should not be used as the sole criteria on which to deny treatment to patients.

She said all criteria should be based on clinical evidence that it will affect the chances of successful treatment.

Ms Young added: "Our advice has always been that people seeking fertility treatment should adopt as healthy a lifestyle as possible, including giving up smoking if possible.

"The most important thing is that every patient should be treated on the same criteria and there should be strong medical evidence for that criteria.

"It (smoking) should not be the sole criteria on which patients are denied IVF - absolutely not." 

Source: The Telegraph, 24 July 2008  
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5hz3eh

Imperial Tobacco hit by smoking ban

Imperial Tobacco said that the smoking ban was responsible for half of a six per cent fall in its UK cigarette sales in the nine months to the end of June. It said there was more evidence of smokers "downtrading", with strong growth in the economy sector.

The company, which has its UK manufacturing base at Lenton, said it expected the group's overall performance to be in line with expectations for the rest of the year.

Imperial chief executive Gareth Davis said today: "Our operating environment remains challenging but we remain on track for another successful year."

Imperial said last month it would be cutting 210 jobs at Lenton as part of a global restructuring programme.

Source: thisisbusiness-eastmidlands, 25 July 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5zkhnn

Films featuring smoking could be given 18 certificates

Under new proposals, films that show people smoking could be given 18 certificates to stop children from taking up the habit.

Council leaders in Manchester will discuss the proposals, which have been supported by health officials.

They are asking for special powers to put "restrictive" ratings on films that they believe encourage smoking.

This could mean films that have PG ratings elsewhere in Britain are rated 18 in Greater Manchester's cinemas.

A report by the Greater Manchester Health Commission, to be discussed by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA), says town halls should "take into account smoking when giving a classification to a film".

The region's 10 councils may also cut funding to theatres that put on plays involving smoking.

The GMHC's report also urges the Government to ban drivers from smoking, to reclassify all films featuring smoking to be rated 18 and to ban smoking in television programmes.
 

Source: The Telegraph, 24 July 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/57dq7g

Smoking shelters to return to East Lancashire hospitals

Smoking shelters are set to be rebuilt at East Lancashire’s hospitals, less than three years after they were torn down. 

Smoking was banned in all East Lancashire Hospitals Trust’s buildings and grounds in December 2005, but new chief executive Marie Burnham is set to apply to local councils to have them reinstated.

It is hoped the move will free the entrances of both the Royal Blackburn Hospital and Burnley General Hospital from the crowds of smokers who regularly gather there, flouting the ban.

The decision is also in response to patient opinion surveys, which showed that many wanted somewhere to smoke while in hospital, despite the health risks.

The trust could not confirm how many shelters were planned, or how much they would cost, but a spokesman said work would be done to ensure they were placed sensitively around the hospital grounds.

Miss Burnham, who took on the role of chief executive just three weeks ago, said: “We hope that this will help keep the entrances clean and smokefree.”

Amanda Sandford from Action on Smoking and Health said: “Crowds of people smoking in a doorway can be very off putting for the patients, visitors and staff who have to walk through the fumes and a situation like that is totally inappropriate for a hospital."

“Although it is regrettable that they feel they have to take this step, we understand how addictive smoking is and the difficulty for long term patients who smoke, as well as the stress for people visiting relatives."

“We understand the concerns of the management, but urge them to keep the policy under review.”

Source: Blackburn Citizen, 24 July 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5vhqqy

South Korea: BAT Ordered to Change misleading adverts

South Korea's fair trade regulator has ordered British American Tobacco (BAT) to change a set of advertisements that could mislead consumers.

BAT claims in its English and Korean advertisements for Dunhill Fine Cut cigarettes that the product contains 100 percent "tobacco leaf without stems," according to the Fair Trade Commission.

However, the FTC said the BAT cigarettes contain between 0.31 and 0.34 percent stems, citing a local university study. Experts say stems could alter the flavor of cigarettes.

This is the first time that the antitrust regulator has ordered a foreign tobacco company to change its advertisements for delivering misleading information

Source: Korea Times, 24 July 2008 
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5vv8kb

Indonesia: Health advocates slam tobacco sponsorship of Alicia Keys concert

International public health advocates are calling on Alicia Keys to withdraw tobacco industry sponsorship of her concert in Jakarta, Indonesia, and are condemning tobacco giant Philip Morris International for sponsoring the concert as a way of marketing cigarettes to children. 

The concert is being sponsored and heavily advertised by Philip Morris International and its Indonesian subsidiary Sampoerna. According to giant billboards posted in Jakarta the concert is being billed as "A Mild Live Production". "A Mild" is a cigarette brand produced by Sampoerna, the Philip Morris International subsidiary.

In the United States, Philip Morris USA and other major tobacco companies are prohibited from engaging in brand name sponsorships of concerts under a 1998 legal settlement with the states. However, in developing countries, tobacco companies continue to sponsor concerts by famous musicians, which health advocates have condemned as a means to market cigarettes to children and to circumvent restrictions on more traditional tobacco advertising.

Alicia Keys is being urged to withdraw tobacco industry sponsorship of the concert or cancel her appearance in a letter signed by the U.S. based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the National Commission for Child Protection of Indonesia and the Framework Convention Alliance for Tobacco Control, an international alliance working to reduce tobacco use that consists of more than 300 organizations from more than 100 countries.

The letter states, "We call on you to put the health of Indonesia's children first and either require the withdrawal of all tobacco industry sponsorship from this concert or cancel your appearance. We also hope you will speak out publicly about your concern for the health of Indonesia's children and against tobacco industry use of musicians and artists to promote their products."

Alicia Keys' participation in a tobacco-sponsored concert that will appeal to and is being heavily marketed to Indonesian youth is inconsistent with her advocacy for children's health through her involvement in Keep A Child Alive, a campaign to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in poor countries.

Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids states, "It is a cynical company with no moral compass that would engage in these practices. The sponsorship and promotion of the Alicia Keys concert in Indonesia on its face appears to be a demonstration that Philip Morris International has not changed at all in its willingness to engage in whatever marketing practices it can get away with, including practices that are blatantly and clearly targeted at youth in developing countries."

The letter adds that sponsorship of the Keys concert indicates "that Philip Morris International under your leadership is prepared to engage in marketing practices in developing nations, like Indonesia, that you would never engage in the United States."

Source: PR Newswire, 24 July 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/6oe63l