New stop smoking initiative to be launched in England

A new smoking cessation initiative, which has increased referrals by 49%, is to be rolled out across England following successful pilot projects. The new scheme aims to energise health professionals into helping patients quit smoking by encouraging them to show commitment and support. Patients receive support in the form of 10 supportive components that demonstrate the health team’s commitment to helping a patient quit smoking.

Although the service, Stop Smoking Interventions in Primary Care, is led by GP surgeries, practice nurses play a prominent role in supporting patients as they try and quit smoking. The scheme has been piloted by stop smoking services in the Yorkshire and Humber region. In the Rotherham region, the approach increased referrals by 49% between January 2007 and September 2008, from 292 to 432 across nine GP practices.

Irene Botham, clinical nurse manager at the Dinnington Group practice in Rotherham, said: ‘Our nurses received expert training from the local NHS Stop Smoking Service in smoking interventions. We worked hard to drive forward the initiative in my practice and saw great results - since we implemented the new systems based approach our referral rates have increased by 82%. There are clear clinical benefits to following this approach and health care professionals have a duty of care to help smokers to quit. In addition, our patients can benefit from the assistance of NHS support with which they are up to four times more likely to quit.’

Source: Nursing Times, 02 June 2009
Link: http://tinyurl.com/ob7vnc

Sweden: Public back al fresco smoking ban

73 percent of Swedes back a ban on smoking in outside dining areas of cafés and restaurants, according to a new poll by Synovate on commission from the Swedish Network of Tobacco Prevention published on Monday. The Hotel & Restaurant Workers Union (HRF), together with other member organisations of the network, has now demanded action to extend the ban on smoking in licensed premises introduced in June 2005.

The 2005 ban was very popular among the Swedish population and the parliament has identified a goal that by 2014 no one should be subjected to tobacco smoke against their will. Ella Niia at HRF, and five other members of the Swedish Network for Tobacco Prevention argue, in an article in Svenska Dagbladet, that it is time to extend the ban and ensure that non-smokers can enjoy their meal in a smoke-free open air environment.

The Synovate survey asked 1,000 Swedes to specify the milieus in which they were bothered by passive smoking and where they would like to see smoking bans extended. 73 percent supported a total ban on smoking in al fresco dining areas with the strongest backing amongst young people.

The survey indicates support for the ban to be extended to balconies, stairwells, entrance halls and on all public transport. 86 percent of respondents were positive to the parliament's 2014 goal - including two thirds of regular smokers. Non-smokers were twice as positive as smokers, but fully 40 percent of regular smokers backed extending the ban, the network members write.

The US state of California paved the way for the wave of smoking bans that have been enforced worldwide in the past decade, when it outlawed smoking inside in 1998. Ireland was the first country to introduce a nationwide ban in 2004.

Since then a series of countries have introduced similar bans citing public health concerns and several states in Canada and Australia have already included open air environments in their legislation. The Himalayan nation of Bhutan is to date the only country to have introduced a complete ban on the sale and smoking of tobacco in public.

Source: The Local, 01 June 2009
Link: http://tinyurl.com/knk4pg

Smoking ban 'has potential for positive changes in Mental Health Units'

New research published in the June issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, shows most mental health settings in England have faced challenges in introducing smoke-free policies. However, the results also suggest that the policies can bring about positive changes, including behavioural changes in patients.

Researchers at the University of Nottingham's Centre for Tobacco Control Studies surveyed all 72 English NHS trusts providing mental health in-patient services. In addition, telephone interviews were conducted with 7 trusts and site visits made to a further 5 trusts.

According to the survey responses, most trusts (91%) believed that mental health settings faced 'particular challenges' in implementing smoke-free policies when compared to other settings. These included the high prevalence of smoking among service users, safety risks, and potential interactions with antipsychotic medication.

But despite these challenges, almost all the trusts (92%) surveyed believed going smoke-free had been quite or very successful. Fears of an increase in aggressive or violent incidents among patients have also proved largely unfounded.

The in-depth telephone and face-to-face interviews conducted with trusts revealed a number of positive effects. Writing in the British Journal of Psychiatry, the study authors said: "One respondent reported that patients were sleeping better as a result of closing smoking rooms at social gathering points where the consumption of nicotine and often caffeine had been frequent and heavy both during the days and evenings.

"Another said that patients were reported to get up and out of their rooms earlier in the mornings, since they were no longer allowed to smoke indoors. Three respondents reported that individuals specifically welcomed the use of newly-created recreational spaces that had been provided in former smoking rooms, and that this was having a positive impact on their behaviour and sense of well-being."

The researchers observed that "considerable efforts" have been made to implement smoke-free policies in mental health in-patient units, and overall the outcome has been positive. However, they concluded: "Challenges are widely perceived. These need to be explored further and addressed adequately to support trusts in complying with the Health Act and maximising the benefit of the law."

Source: MediLexicon, 02 June 2009
Link: http://tinyurl.com/pow2dc

Obscured by the smoke - British American Tobacco's deathly lobbying agenda in the EU

British American Tobacco (BAT) spent more than €700,000 lobbying the EU last year, up to four times as much as the company declared on the EU’s register of interest representatives, new research by Corporate Europe Observatory has revealed. The report argues that BAT's hidden lobbying activities, which are clearly not in the public interest, should be exposed to public scrutiny.

As the world’s number two tobacco company, European multinational British American Tobacco (BAT) has been lobbying the EU institutions on a number of fronts in recent years. Fighting against the harmonisation of cigarette duty, battling against smoking bans in public places and campaigning to lift the EU ban on a ‘smokeless’ tobacco product called ‘snus’ were all high on the company’s agenda. At the same time, BAT has tried to establish itself as a leader in corporate social responsibility (CSR) to try to appear as a ‘legitimate’ stakeholder to EU lawmakers and to maintain dialogue with them in a general context of suspicion against the tobacco industry.

As the report shows, the most important part of this lobbying job has been done ‘undercover’, using two main channels. Firstly, BAT hides behind a myriad of associations which are used as ‘vehicles’ for EU lobbying. Some are Brussels-based, others are in member states or even in non-EU countries. Due to loopholes in EU lobbying transparency rules and a lack of enforcement, the amount of money paid to such lobbying vehicles is not available publicly. Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) has found that as well as the official amount registered on the Commission’s voluntary register of interest representatives (€150,000-200,000), BAT contributed twice as much again to three main lobbying bodies (CECCM, ESTA, ESTOC). Some of the names of BAT-funded lobby groups and front groups active in Brussels are not even disclosed on the register, let alone the amounts paid. CEO has discovered that at least €527,000 was paid to associations lobbying on BAT’s behalf, increasing its lobbying budget fourfold to €677,000-727,000.

Secondly, anticipating new international rules hostile to pro-tobacco advocacy, BAT has innovated in the lobbying field by using ‘corporate social responsibility’ (CSR) as a lobbying tool. In 2006-2007, under the banner of a so-called ‘EU stakeholder dialogue’, the company obtained direct access to at least 42 EU policymakers, targeting them with political messages directly related to pieces of legislation being discussed in Brussels. Arguing that it was ‘CSR’ and not ‘lobbying’, BAT refused to disclose the budget of this two-year campaign involving in-house personnel, two external lobbying firms, one communications agency and one auditing firm. It can however be assumed that this campaign involved considerable expenditure.

CEO estimates that BAT’s real lobbying budget could in fact be at least five times higher than the amount disclosed on the voluntary register. This is a very conservative estimate that does not include the lobbying budgets spent in each member state to influence EU decisions.

Source: Corporate Europe Observatory
Link: http://tinyurl.com/qfbfho