HEADLINES

• ASH awarded WHO medal at charity's 40th anniversary event
• Fag Ash Cole: Chelsea star snapped puffing away on a cigarette during LA holiday
• UK: Disadvantaged households need more smoking support
• EU: Anti-tobacco campaign heralds new regulations
• USA: Will Obama's golf summit be smoke free?
• Abu Dhabi launches “Abu Dhabi Says No To Smoking”

• ASH awarded WHO medal at charity's 40th anniversary event

  ASH Chief Executive Deborah Arnott was presented with an award from the World Health Organization by the Minister for Public Health, Anne Milton at an event to mark the charity's 40th anniversary, on Wednesday.

  

  LtoR: Sir Richard Thompson (president of the Royal College of Physicians), Stephen Williams MP (Chair of APPG on Smoking and Health), Kevin Barron MP, Anne Milton (Minister for Public Health) holding the WHO World No Smoking Day Award, Deborah Arnott (CEO of ASH), Prof. John Moxham (Chair of ASH). (picture by Crispin Hughes)

  At a special meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, Ms Milton presented the World No Tobacco Day Award 2011 in recognition of ASH's 'dynamic' international work supporting the establishment of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, including the development of the illicit trade protocol.

  Accepting the award, Deborah Arnott said:

  "I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of ASH . Since the charity was founded 40 years ago, we have seen a dramatic fall in smoking from around half of all adults to just one fifth. This achievement is due to the support of parliamentarians from all parties, who have helped to ensure that the UK remains a world leader in tobacco policy."

  The event was hosted by Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Williams, Chair of the APPG on Smoking and Health, who welcomed the strong cross-party support for tobacco policies. He expressed particular thanks to Kevin Barron, the Labour MP and former Health Select Committee Chair, and to Public Health Minister Anne Milton for her work on the recent Tobacco Plan. Ms Milton highlighted the challenges ahead, with over 80,000 deaths from tobacco every year in England alone.

  Also speaking at the event was Sir Richard Thompson, President of the Royal College of Physicians, the organisation who originally founded ASH in 1971, and ASH Chair, Professor John Moxham.  

  Further images of the event can be viewd on flickr here

  Source: Medical News Today - 16 June 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/jjuFqE

• Fag Ash Cole: Chelsea star snapped puffing away on a cigarette during LA holiday

  He's supposed to be one of the country's top professional sportsmen who is paid a phenomenally huge amount of money for his skills.

  But clearly no one's told Ashley Cole that smoking is not only bad for his health but for his career too.

  The Chelsea and England star was snapped puffing away on a cigarette as he enjoyed his summer break.

  The 30-year-old defender was seen taking a deep drag as he sat in the back of a car as he drove through Los Angeles.

  Source: Daily Mail - 16 June 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/jty7SQ

• UK: Disadvantaged households need more smoking support

  Many UK children are at risk of health problems caused by exposure to second-hand smoke in the home, with poorer households more likely to need support.

  Research carried out by the University of Nottingham, published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, looked at the concept of harm reduction in deprived families where children might be exposed to levels of smoke in the home.

  Interviews were carried out with families accessing Sure Start services, of which 82% were unemployed, and 62% had two or more smokers per household.

  The researchers found that the majority of participants had used NRT to support previous quit attempts, but that, in general, attitudes towards temporary abstinence were negative, as people felt they would rather wait until they were in a position to give up completely.

  The study findings suggested that further information on the effects of second-hand smoke is required, but that providing demonstrable evidence of the impact that caregivers' smoking is having on their children's health is more likely to be effective in the long term.

  Source: Nursing in Practice - 14 June 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/jKdBB3

• EU: Anti-tobacco campaign heralds new regulations

  The European Commission is set to widen the scope of cigarette-trading rules to cover potentially harmful electronic cigarettes, flavourings and even marketing strategies, as part of a wider campaign launched yesterday (16 June) to urge Europeans to quit.

  The campaign is centred around a new online tool, called 'iCoach', a free-access digital platform, which is to be first targeted at smoking EU officials in an effort to get them to lead by example on the issue.

  Available in all EU languages, the iCoach contains a number of different stages designed to offer smokers – including those who have no intention of giving up and those in danger of relapse – practical advice on how to overcome nicotine addiction.

  It forms the central part of the new campaign called 'Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable' launched by Health Commissioner John Dalli, which is principally targeting smokers aged between 25 and 34.

  The campaign will run for the next three years while new regulations will be announced next year.

  Source: EuroActiv - 17 June 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/ku6kh9

• USA: Will Obama's golf summit be smoke free?

  Concerns were raised at the White House Thursday that President Obama could succumb to peer pressure from John Boehner during their weekend golf outing - not by agreeing to deficit reductions Republicans want, but by bumming a cigarette off the House speaker.

  Press Secretary Jay Carney couldn't answer a reporter's question about whether Obama might share a butt with Boehner on the back nine, but said the two would use the time to open up communications.

  Asked about his addiction by Brian Williams earlier this year, Boehner told Williams, "it's a bad habit. I wish I didn't have it. But I have it."

  President Obama has quit smoking after years of struggling with the nicotine addiction.

  Source: Fox News - 16 June 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/m95Khe

• Abu Dhabi launches “Abu Dhabi Says No To Smoking”

  The Health Authority - Abu Dhabi (HAAD) announced today a comprehensive plan to combat tobacco use in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi under the slogan “Abu Dhabi Says No to Smoking”.

  The program aims to prevent youth from using all tobacco forms (Shisha, Medwakh, Cigarettes and all other forms), help smokers to quit smoking through creating a smoke free environment as per the Federal Law on Tobacco Control number 15/ 2009.

  To meet the objectives of the program, a Task Force consisting of various governmental agencies was formed.

  The Federal Law on Tobacco Control number 15/ 2009 forbids smoking in private cars when there is a child passenger who does not exceed the age of 12 years, forbids smoking in all places of worship and educational institutions such as universities and schools, health and sports facilities. It also forbids the sale of candy products which resemble tobacco products, forbids automatic vending equipment and devices for tobacco distribution inside the country.

  The law also carries fines for tobacco advertisement and for smoking in public places and selling tobacco products to individuals below 18 years.

  Source: Khaleej Times - 15 June 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/mT42nS