ASH Daily News for 30/09/2004
HEADLINES
ASH, 102 Clifton Street, LONDON, EC2A 4HW.
Tel 020 7739 5902 Fax 020 7613 0531
[VIEW HTML VERSION
http://www.globalink.org/nbuk]
ASH Daily News
30th September 2004
HEADLINES
Government plans to control smoking
£50 fines for capital litter-bugs
Gene mutation, drug identified for lung cancer
Large Health warnings 'destroying brand value'
FULL TEXT
Government plans to control smoking
Health Secretary John Reid says the government is poised to introduce controls on smoking in public places.
But he suggested Britain would adopt its own model rather than copying Ireland, where legislation has banned smoking outright in pubs.
"With New Labour it's going to be a bit more difficult to do deals in smoke-filled rooms," Reid told the ruling Labour Party's annual conference on Thursday.
He said he would make it easier for people to make healthier choices, including those "who want to give up the fags."
Government ministers are working on draft plans on smoking restrictions and Reid is expected to make an announcement to parliament shortly.
The government is keen to strike a balance on smoking between being accused of engineering a "nanny state" and of failing to do enough to protect the public from passive smoking.
Labour would adopt "the British way" in relation to policies on healthcare, Reid said -- a clear hint it would not adopt Ireland's outright ban, according to aides.
The government is expected to seek a compromise solution, with different restrictions for different types of public places, from bars to pubs to restaurants.
Source: Reuters, 29 September 2004
£50 fines for capital litter-bugs
For the hardened London smoker, chased from the office by rules and disapproving company policies, the pavement has been the last refuge. They huddle together at break times, for a quick fag and a last stand. But now even that may be under attack.
Amid claims that they have been littering London with tonnes of discarded butts, the mayor, Ken Livingstone, is to get tough on the pavement smokers.
He is writing to 300 companies telling them to stop errant staff dropping litter outside their offices and elsewhere.
To make compliance easier the mayor and boroughs will distribute 15,000 heat-resistant cigarette butt pouches, so every smoker will have their own ashtray.
But with the carrot comes a stick. Under the Capital Standards Programme, Mr Livingstone and the boroughs aim by 2005 to treble to 750 the number of enforcement officers issuing on-the-spot fines for littering and other anti-social offences.
Full Guardian article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1315815,00.html
Source: The Guardian, 30 September 2004
Gene mutation, drug identified for lung cancer
Scientists in Britain have identified a genetic mutation involved in certain types of lung cancer and said the breast cancer drug Herceptin might work in patients who have it.
The gene called ERBB2 is linked to four percent of non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLC), which account for about 75 percent of all cases of the deadly disease.
"ERBB2 is one of a series of biological switches in our cells that plays a vital role in controlling whether cells survive and proliferate," Dr Andy Futreal, a co-leader of the Cancer Genome Project which found the gene, said on Wednesday.
"When the ERBB2 protein is switched on, it talks to other molecules in the cell to initiate a cascade of changes that alter how cells grow."
Some mutations in the gene result in uncontrolled cell division, or cancer.
Source: Reuters 29 September 2004
Large Health warnings 'destroying brand value'
Enlarging the health warnings on cigarette packets destroys brand value, according to a senior tobacco analyst.
Michael Smith, analyst at JP Morgan, said that in countries where the new health warnings featuring pictures of diseased lungs and yellow teeth, have been introduced smokers no longer want to see the packet as their personal possession.
"Smokers are increasingly placing their cigarette packets out of public view on social occasions," he said in a bearish note on the sector, adding that he believes the phenomenon has led to people experimenting with lower-price brands.
Full article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2004/09/29/cnfag29.xml
Source: Daily Telegraph, 29 September 2004
----------------------------------
Unsubscribe:
Public subscribers: http://www.ash.org.uk/?unsubscribe
Globalink members: http://member.globalink.org
----------------------------------
Tel 020 7739 5902 Fax 020 7613 0531
[VIEW HTML VERSION
http://www.globalink.org/nbuk]
ASH Daily News
30th September 2004
HEADLINES
Government plans to control smoking
£50 fines for capital litter-bugs
Gene mutation, drug identified for lung cancer
Large Health warnings 'destroying brand value'
FULL TEXT
Government plans to control smoking
Health Secretary John Reid says the government is poised to introduce controls on smoking in public places.
But he suggested Britain would adopt its own model rather than copying Ireland, where legislation has banned smoking outright in pubs.
"With New Labour it's going to be a bit more difficult to do deals in smoke-filled rooms," Reid told the ruling Labour Party's annual conference on Thursday.
He said he would make it easier for people to make healthier choices, including those "who want to give up the fags."
Government ministers are working on draft plans on smoking restrictions and Reid is expected to make an announcement to parliament shortly.
The government is keen to strike a balance on smoking between being accused of engineering a "nanny state" and of failing to do enough to protect the public from passive smoking.
Labour would adopt "the British way" in relation to policies on healthcare, Reid said -- a clear hint it would not adopt Ireland's outright ban, according to aides.
The government is expected to seek a compromise solution, with different restrictions for different types of public places, from bars to pubs to restaurants.
Source: Reuters, 29 September 2004
£50 fines for capital litter-bugs
For the hardened London smoker, chased from the office by rules and disapproving company policies, the pavement has been the last refuge. They huddle together at break times, for a quick fag and a last stand. But now even that may be under attack.
Amid claims that they have been littering London with tonnes of discarded butts, the mayor, Ken Livingstone, is to get tough on the pavement smokers.
He is writing to 300 companies telling them to stop errant staff dropping litter outside their offices and elsewhere.
To make compliance easier the mayor and boroughs will distribute 15,000 heat-resistant cigarette butt pouches, so every smoker will have their own ashtray.
But with the carrot comes a stick. Under the Capital Standards Programme, Mr Livingstone and the boroughs aim by 2005 to treble to 750 the number of enforcement officers issuing on-the-spot fines for littering and other anti-social offences.
Full Guardian article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1315815,00.html
Source: The Guardian, 30 September 2004
Gene mutation, drug identified for lung cancer
Scientists in Britain have identified a genetic mutation involved in certain types of lung cancer and said the breast cancer drug Herceptin might work in patients who have it.
The gene called ERBB2 is linked to four percent of non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLC), which account for about 75 percent of all cases of the deadly disease.
"ERBB2 is one of a series of biological switches in our cells that plays a vital role in controlling whether cells survive and proliferate," Dr Andy Futreal, a co-leader of the Cancer Genome Project which found the gene, said on Wednesday.
"When the ERBB2 protein is switched on, it talks to other molecules in the cell to initiate a cascade of changes that alter how cells grow."
Some mutations in the gene result in uncontrolled cell division, or cancer.
Source: Reuters 29 September 2004
Large Health warnings 'destroying brand value'
Enlarging the health warnings on cigarette packets destroys brand value, according to a senior tobacco analyst.
Michael Smith, analyst at JP Morgan, said that in countries where the new health warnings featuring pictures of diseased lungs and yellow teeth, have been introduced smokers no longer want to see the packet as their personal possession.
"Smokers are increasingly placing their cigarette packets out of public view on social occasions," he said in a bearish note on the sector, adding that he believes the phenomenon has led to people experimenting with lower-price brands.
Full article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2004/09/29/cnfag29.xml
Source: Daily Telegraph, 29 September 2004
----------------------------------
Unsubscribe:
Public subscribers: http://www.ash.org.uk/?unsubscribe
Globalink members: http://member.globalink.org
----------------------------------
