ASH Daily News for 12 May 2009

Ex-smokers happier and wealthier

New research has claimed ex-smokers are 'overwhelmingly' happier after quitting. The study by Cancer Research UK found more than two thirds of non-smokers polled said they felt better since giving up. The length of time since quitting also affected the level of happiness. Ex-smokers who had stopped more than a year ago reported feeling happier than ex-smokers who had stopped within the last year. Even among ex-smokers who had recently stopped a large majority felt happier than when they smoked.

The report, published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, found young ex-smokers were also more likely to report feeling happier than their elder counterparts. Commenting on the findings, Cancer Research UK's Dr Lion Shahab, lead researcher based at the UCL Health Behaviour Research Centre, said: "There may be many reasons why ex-smokers say they’re happier now than when they were smokers, including self-justification. These results provide reassurance to would-be quitters that they will not only improve their physical health but that their quality of life is also likely to improve if they succeed in stopping smoking."

Elspeth Lee, Cancer Research UK’s head of tobacco control, added that smoking around twenty cigarettes a day for the next twenty years would cost over £40,000. "Giving up smoking makes you wealthier as well as healthier," she said. "But tobacco is a deadly addiction that costs smokers more than just money. Half of all long term smokers will die from the addiction, so quitting is one of the most important steps a smoker can take to improve their health. Preventing children from starting smoking is vital also."

Cancer Research UK is calling for tobacco to be placed out of sight in shops, as well as getting vending machines removed and wrapping cigarettes in plain packaging. These measures will all help to protect young people from the influence of tobacco marketing.

Source: inthenews.co.uk, 12 May 2009
Link: http://tiny.cc/fhEvb

Imperial Tobacco UK sales hit by downturn

Cigarette sales have fallen in the UK and the rest of Western Europe as consumer spending declines, according to Imperial Tobacco, which published interim results this morning. 

The world’s fourth-largest cigarette maker reported a 14 per cent rise in adjusted half-year earnings per share to 71.8p today and said that it was well placed for the future. However, its share price fell by 4 per cent in early trade as the company made a net loss of £149 million, compared with net profit of £233 million in the same period last year, as it integrated Altadis, the Franco-Spanish maker of Gauloises cigarettes, which it bought in January 2008.

Adjusted profit from operations rose by 49 per cent to £1.37 billion, but the comparative period last year included only two months of Altadis's sales instead of six months this time. Imperial said today that it remains on track to deliver planned cost savings from the purchase. Although cigarette sales fell across Western Europe, with the UK market down 2 per cent and the Spanish market shrinking by 5 per cent, a strong performance in Africa and the Middle East helped buoy volumes. The cigarette maker also benefited from the weaker pound when translating overseas earnings.

Imperial, which makes Richmond and Lambert & Butler, the two most popular cigarette brands in the UK, said that cigarette volumes rose by 25 per cent to 152 billion around the world, while volumes of fine-cut tobacco rose by 4 per cent to 12,150 tonnes as smokers changed to rolling their own cigarettes to reduce costs.

Gareth Davis, chief executive of Imperial, said: “We are not immune from the pressures of the external environment but our enhanced business profile, combined with our ongoing focus on cost and cash management, leave us well placed to continue to create sustainable value for our shareholders. About half our portfolio is value brands and they've done particularly well taking advantage of the ongoing trend to down-trading, particularly in mature markets."

Source: The Times, 12 May 2009
Link: http://tiny.cc/8pymg

BAT clinical trial for ‘less toxic’ tobacco

British American Tobacco is recruiting 250 volunteers in Germany to test experimental cigarettes designed to produce less toxic smoke than conventional products. The smokers’ biological reactions will be analysed through a battery of scientific tests. The study in Hamburg is believed to be the first modern clinical trial of tobacco treated to be safer when smoked. BAT’s long-term business plan is to produce cigarettes that can be marketed as less likely to cause disease, with solid evidence to support the claim.

The tobacco industry has been extremely wary of making claims about less harmful products since the debacle of low-tar and light cigarettes in the 1970s and 80s. These were promoted as being safer on the basis of lab tests with “smoking machines” – but turned out to be just as dangerous as traditional products because consumers puffed harder to get their hit of smoke and nicotine.

BAT has made three “prototype combustible products” for the German trial. They incorporate tobacco that has been processed in several ways to generate fewer “toxicants” as it burns, including treatment with enzymes similar to those in biological washing powders. The prototypes also have new filters, with activated charcoal and resins to absorb harmful chemicals.

Momentum Pharma Services, a contract research organisation that normally works for drug companies, is carrying out the £6m analysis. It has been registered on an independent clinical trials database – a first for BAT – and results will be published in a scientific journal next year. Although the tobacco industry has been investigating cigarette safety for decades, science has only now reached a stage at which researchers can discover how to make smoking genuinely safer, said David O’Reilly, BAT’s head of public health and scientific affairs. “There are 100 or so toxicants in cigarette smoke and more than 30 significant diseases associated with smoking,” he said.

The trial will show whether and how much the prototype cigarettes reduce smokers’ exposure to toxicants, by measuring the levels of associated chemicals known as “biomarkers” in their blood, urine and saliva. But more development work and more clinical trials will be needed before BAT or any other company can confidently launch a safer cigarette.

Source: The Financial Times, 09 May 2009
Link: http://tiny.cc/rA4e2

Brinnington, Lancashire, is ready to 'lose the fags'

A major new project that provides the support smokers need to quit the habit has been launched in Brinnington, Stockport. The initiative, called 'Lose the Fags', has been developed by NHS Stockport in close partnership with Brinnington residents and follows a year of research with smokers and former smokers. This has helped with the development of a range of new services aimed at helping people who are thinking about giving up smoking. 53% of people in Brinnington are smokers, one of the highest rates in the North West.

As well as being developed in consultation with Brinnington residents, the services on offer will also closely involve them. A number of local people have been trained to deliver advice and support themselves, including fitness instructors at the Lapwing Centre who have been trained to provide stop smoking advice when people call in to use the gym. Staff at Brinnington Children’s Centre will also be able to offer friendly support to parents whose children are using the facilities.

The project is also the site of a national demonstration for the use of ‘social marketing’ - a method of working that puts the people who are to benefit from the services on offer at the heart of their design and planning.

Jeff French, Executive Director of the National Social Marketing Centre, was on hand to launch the project at Brinnington Community Centre on Friday 13 March. Jeff said: “This project in Brinnington has regional, national and international significance and is an illustration of best practice social marketing. It was fantastic to see so many local residents at the launch, all of whom were involved with the development of the new services and communications materials.”

Striking advertising materials have been produced to encourage people to quit smoking with support. These feature Brinnington residents who have successfully ‘lost the fags’. A new text and freephone number that will make it easier for people to find out more about the services on offer has also been made available as part of the project.

Speaking at the launch event, Sarah Clarke, from NHS Stockport, said: “We know that many smokers in Brinnington want to give up, and people are four times more likely to stop if they use good quality support. There are already some great services in Brinnington but with the development of these new facilities and campaign materials we expect even more people to quit successfully over the coming year.

This initiative has been tailored to the needs of local people by working closely with them and this is crucial to the success of the project. The services on offer have been designed with the help of people in Brinnington, for the people of Brinnington, and the project will be run with their help. The ‘Lose the Fags’ freephone line is 0800 1412 104 or text ‘losefags’ and your name to 81066.

Source: Stockport Council Press Release, 11 May 2009