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ASH Daily News for 09 November 2007

Pledge to protect kids from smoke

Health chiefs have pledged to protect children from exposure to tobacco and the damaging effects of secondhand smoke.

A report launched at the Tobacco Control Summit at Salford Quays, Manchester, warns that children are particularly susceptible to ill health caused by exposure to secondhand smoke.

It highlights that cot deaths are twice as likely for babies whose parents smoke. 

In households where both parents smoke, children have a 72 per cent increased risk of respiratory illness, a 50 per cent increased risk of asthma and a 40 per cent increased risk of middle ear disease, which can cause deafness.

Speaking at the conference, Regional Minister and Minister for Children, Young People and Families, Beverley Hughes MP, said: “We have achieved a lot with the introduction of smokefree public places, but smoking is still a major cause of preventable illness and early death for the people of the North West.

“We need to drive home the message that it is unacceptable to expose children and young people to secondhand smoke and we need to do more to prevent young people from taking up the habit.”

The report recommends that the regional tobacco control strategy should take further action to protect children by supporting projects, such as those that encourage smokefree homes and reduce the numbers of women smoking during pregnancy.

Delegates at the conference signed a declaration pledging to break the cycle of children and young peoples’ addiction and exposure to tobacco, and eradicating tobacco related health inequalities as an urgent priority.

The report found that in the five most deprived wards in England, all in the north west, smoking prevalence is estimated to be between 42 per cent and 52 per cent and regional data suggests that smoking amongst women during pregnancy is higher than national averages.

However, compared to elsewhere in England, the North West had the highest number of people setting a quit date and the highest number of successful quitters at the four week follow-up.

This is an indication that some methods used by stop smoking services are working well.

Source: North West Evening Mail, 08 November 2007  
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2pps9x

Pub customers responding positively to smoking ban, says Punch boss

Punch Taverns’ chief executive Giles Thorley said the UK wide smoking ban had improved the environment of his group’s pubs and customers were responding positively to the new regime. 

He added that hundreds of Punch retailers had said the smoking ban was making their venues better places for consumers to visit.

“There are and will be short term challenges, but the long term picture is a good one,” he said.

Thorley was speaking as Punch announced its full year results which saw overall turnover up 10 per cent to £1,705m, with pre-tax profits up 13 per cent to £282m, a figure slightly above analysts’ expectations.

Average profit per leased pub was up 11 per cent, while core managed average profit was 15 per cent higher than last year.

Current trading saw the managed estate performing broadly in line with last year’s sales levels, while the leased business was seeing growth trends following on from the second half of the financial year.

Analyst James Ainley of JP Morgan suggested this implied like-for-like growth of 2.3 per cent.

Thorley said that while there were certainly short term challenges, the group was in the best ever shape and would capitalise on opportunities as they arose.

Source: The Publican, 08 November 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/343xjs

USA: Decades long decrease in smoking rates levels off

The decades long decline in smoking by Americans has stalled for three years, the first time smoking rates have leveled off for that long since the federal government began collecting statistics more than 40 years ago.

After more than a decade of steep decline, smoking rates for high school students have not only hit a plateau in the past few years but also increased. This comes amid controversy over the targeting of young women by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. with its Camel No. 9 cigarette, which is packaged in "hot-pink fuchsia" and is advertised as "light and luscious."

Experts said that the data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention presents a worrisome picture of smoking patterns, especially because the trend has been declining for such a long period.

Corinne Husten, head of the epidemiology branch of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health said, "Anytime we are not seeing a decline, it's a cause of real concern to us. Smoking is the biggest cause of preventable disease we have, and we need to bring down the rates as quickly as we possibly can."

According to the CDC report, about 20.8 percent of American adults are smokers, with 80 percent of them smoking every day and the rest smoking on some days. Adult smoking rates declined more than 15 percent from 1997 to 2004 but have been stubbornly unchanged since.

Husten pointed to several probable reasons for the unwelcome news. Cigarette companies have been spending billions of dollars to offset tax increases and to discount their products, and funding has been cut sharply for several very successful state anti-smoking campaigns, she said.

The relatively unchanged price of cigarettes since 2002 is considered important, because more people stop smoking because of cost than for any other single reason. That is especially true of younger smokers. While some states have increased tobacco taxes, the federal government has not raised its rate for more than a decade, and President Bush has strongly opposed a congressional proposal to increase the tax to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

William V. Corr, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said the administration has been "AWOL regarding tobacco control, doing little or nothing."

The administration has also declined to send the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to the Senate for ratification. The treaty, signed by the United States in 2004, would require toughening of U.S. anti-smoking efforts. So far, more than 150 of the 168 nations that signed the treaty have ratified it, but the State Department has consistently said it is still studying the document.

Source: The Washington Post, 09 November 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2urg77

Show urges parents to quit smoking

The BBC is calling on children to help their parents quit smoking in a new TV show.

Six anti-smoking children will move into a house with their parents who smoke and the children will be allowed to impose whatever regime they think is necessary to end their parents' addiction.

The Smokehouse, a 10 part series, will be broadcast on BBC1 and children's channel CBBC early next year.

Experts, including international athletes and personal trainers, will be on hand to ensure the children taking part are equipped with the latest techniques and motivational skills.

CBBC creative director Anne Gilchrist said: "One of CBBC's aims is to empower children and offer them the tools to influence the world around them.

"For the first time, this remarkable new series will give six children the resources to transform the health of their parents for the better. Around half of all British children are growing up in homes where at least one parent is a smoker."

"The Smokehouse will set a powerful example to kids and their parents about the real impact of passive smoking on the whole family."

Source: Metro, 08 November 2007  
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2bgeom