ASH Daily News for 01 September 2008

Ten million pound rise in money spent on NHS Stop Smoking Services, UK

A report by The NHS Information Centre reveals expenditure on NHS Stop Smoking Services was almost £61 Million in 2007/08 - nearly £10 million more than in 2006/07 and almost £36 million more than in 2001/02.

The report; Statistics on NHS Stop Smoking Services: England, April 2007 to March 2008; is the first annual report about NHS Stop Smoking Services covering the period since the introduction of the smoking ban in England on July 1 2007.

It shows the cost per quitter increased from £160 in 2006/07 to £173 in 2007/08. However, this is lower than the 2001/02 figure of £206 per quitter.

A total of 680,289 people set a quit date through NHS Stop Smoking Services in 2007/08 - a 13 per cent more than in 2006/07 (600,410).

Of those in 2007/08, 52 per cent (350,800) had successfully quit by the four week follow-up, a 10 per cent increase compared to 2006/07 (319,720).

The report also shows that in 2007/08:

More women than men set a quit date (373,000 women compared to 307,289 men), but the success rate of quitting was slightly higher for men than women (53 per cent of men compared to 51 per cent of women).

Success rates generally increased with age, from 38 per cent of those aged below 18, to 60 per cent of those aged 60 and over.

Of the 18,977 pregnant women who set a quit date, 52 per cent (9,817) successfully quit.

Seventy per cent of those setting a quit date received Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) such as nicotine patches, gum or nasal spray. A further 14 per cent of those quitting received varenicline (Champix), which was the most successful pharmacotherapy and helped 63 per cent of those who received it successfully quit.

Chief Executive of The NHS Information Centre, Tim Straughan, said: "Our figures show the NHS is spending millions more pounds on NHS Stop Smoking Services, while thousands more smokers are successfully kicking the habit."

The full report can be viewed at: http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/sss0708

Source: MediLexicon, 30 August 2008 
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5ggpn9

Leaked letter predicts rise in tobacco smuggling

Crime levels are set to rise as a result of the economic downturn, according to a leaked Home Office letter. 

The draft letter to Downing Street said rising crime figures and increased hostility to migrants are likely.

It also forecast more smuggling of fuel and tobacco.

Home Office minister Tony McNulty said the letter was a "statement of the blindingly obvious", as it was clear crime may go up in the slowdown.

The Home Office said, "The letter was draft advice which had not been cleared by home secretary Jacqui Smith and had not been sent to Number 10."

Professor Richard Garside, the director of the centre for crime and justice studies at King's College London, said there was a long-term correlation between economic and social processes and the level of crime. 

"The document seems to imply this is going to raise significant challenges for the police and other criminal justice agencies in the next three to four years," he said.

"The question is, is it really going to be the criminal justice agencies which are going to solve this problem, the answer, I suspect, is no."

The Home Office said it was confident it had the right systems in place to respond flexibly to changing economic needs.

A spokesman said: "We do not normally comment on leaked documents but this is draft advice that the home secretary has not cleared and has not been sent to Number 10.

"It is however appropriate that the Home Office considers the effects the economic climate may have on crime and other policy areas."

Source: BBC New, 01 September 2008  
Link: http://tinyurl.com/6ke7d2

Smoking linked with cot death in preterm babies

Premature infants whose mothers smoked during pregnancy may be at higher risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than those whose mothers did not smoke, a study has shown.

A study explored the breathing reflexes of preterm babies of smokers and compared them with those of non smokers.

Researchers found that the babies whose mothers had smoked showed signs of impaired respiratory function.

Findings were based on a study of 22 preterm infants born between 28 and 32 weeks with no other complicating respiratory factors.

In the sample group, 12 of the infants had mothers who had smoked five or more cigarettes every day in pregnancy. The mothers of the remaining 10 did not smoke during pregnancy.

Baseline readings were obtained for infants' breathing patterns in normal conditions, assessing breathing rate, pauses in breathing, recovery period, blood oxygen saturation and heart rate.

Infants were challenged with a five-minute period of decreased oxygen delivered through a nasal cannula and was monitored with resuscitation equipment at hand.

Cigarette smoke exposed infants showed increased heart rate during the hypoxemic period compared with baseline values and blood oxygen levels recovered more slowly.

Report author Shabih Hasan, of the University of Calgary, said: 'Our study shows that preterm infants make incomplete and/or delayed recovery from interruptions in breathing. This has clear implications for their risk of SIDS.'

Source: CBC, 29 August 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5ocsst

Blaze couple are lucky to be alive

A lucky couple were led to safety by firefighters after a blaze spread through their Bulwell home on Bank Holiday Monday.

A woman was taken to hospital for treatment to a burned foot and for smoke inhalation, while her partner was uninjured. Neither have been named.

Firefighters spent 25 minutes bringing the fire under control after they were called to the home, just before 9 am. They say the couple were fortunate not to be severely hurt.

The blaze is believed to have been started by a cigarette in the woman's bedroom and the flames spread to the roof space.

The couple were woken by thick smoke and residents of the house next door were evacuated.

Later investigations discovered the house was not fitted with a smoke alarm.

It is understood that the family are still living in the property on the ground floor while the clean up operation takes place.

Bruce Keeling, watch manager at Stockhill fire station, urged householders to fit smoke alarms and added: "At the scene, we agreed it was a very near miss."

Source: Retford Today, 29 August 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5du284

Europe lights up to fire-safety rules for cigarettes

A decision by Finland to test the ignition ability of all cigarettes sold in the country could be extended across Europe as of 2011 in an attempt to prevent domestic fires and related deaths.
 
Last month, the Finnish government suggested adopting the international standard ASTM E2187 to test the ignition performance of cigarettes on bedding and upholstered furniture.

About 700 fires are caused by cigarettes in Finland each year, causing some 35-40 deaths. In Europe, the Commission estimates that a minimum of 1,000 fatalities are caused by such fires each year. Burning cigarettes are also responsible for many forest fires, it adds.

Stephen Russell, secretary general of ANEC, a European consumer association, welcomed the Finnish initiative as a contribution to improved consumer safety. He said he supported referencing the ASTM standard as a test method until the details of a formal European standard have finally been worked out.

A Commission decision dated 25 March 2008 defines a fire-safer cigarette as "a cigarette that self-extinguishes when not actively puffed, before it has burnt through its full length". According to the decision, the European safety requirement is met when no more than 25% of a batch of cigarettes burn through their whole length when left unattended. However, there is currently no single European standard for testing cigarettes, a task which is left to national authorities.

Florence Berteletti Kemp, coordinator of the RIP Alliance, which campaigns for safer cigarettes in Europe, said the EU should impose strict fire-safety rules on manufacturers. "In view of the fact that it is technologically and economically feasible for cigarettes to meet fire-safety standards, tobacco manufacturers should be required to produce and market only reduced-ignition propensity cigarettes in the EU". She added that tobacco manufacturers should use the same standard applied in New York, where "fire-safe" cigarettes were introduced in 2003. The standard was later taken up by Canada and 35 other US states.

At European level, the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) started work in August to develop a fire-safety standard that would apply across the entire EU. A spokesperson for Meglena Kuneva, the EU commissioner for consumer protection, told EurActiv that such committees usually take "two to three years" to develop a standard. It would be "realistic" to expect the new rules to enter into force in 2011, she added.

Source: Euractive 01 September 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5qlwhp

Northern Ireland: Tobacco sales to unders 18s banned

Northern Ireland has introduce a law making it illegal to sell cigarettes or other tobacco products to people aged under 18.

England, Wales and Scotland restricted sales to under 18's last October, Northern Ireland joins in after the Assembly passed the required legislation at the end of June, just before heading off for the summer recess.

The change in the law is part of the drive by Minister for Health Michael McGimpsey to reduce the level of smoking amongst children and young people.

Stressing the importance of the change the minister said: “Tobacco is known to be the leading cause of preventable death in Northern Ireland.

“The cost to our society is huge and I believe raising the age of sale will help discourage children and young people from taking up this life threatening habit.”

A recent study showed that some nine per cent of the 11-16 age group are smokers in Northern Ireland - a figure which has reduced from 13.5 per cent as the anti-smoking message gradually gets through.

While it is illegal to sell tobacco to the under 18s, it is not illegal for them to smoke.

Mr McGimpsey has also extended to Northern Ireland a Department of Health consultation seeking views on the future of tobacco controls, including those likely to impact on children’s smoking such as advertising at point of sale and access to tobacco vending machines.

Source: The Irish Times, 01 September 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/57e3ej