ASH Daily News – Tuesday 13 November 2001

Headlines

Support for tobacco ad ban increases
Teenage girls head for unhealthy future
Drinking and smoking blamed for Scotland's mouth cancer toll

Full Text


Support for tobacco ad ban increases

The marketing press (“Campaign” and “Marketing Week”) report on early indications that the Government is willing to support a Liberal Democrat Bill to ban tobacco advertising.

A private members bill was put forward in the House of Lords by Lord Clement-Jones. The bill has had its second reading in the upper chamber and been committed to a committee of the whole house.

Normally, private members bills especially those introduced in the House of Lords have little chance of becoming law on account of limited parliamentary time available. However, there are exceptions and generally the bills that do pass into legislature are the ones that are sponsored by the government.

Now ministers have pledged to give Lord Clement-Jones’ bill a “fair wind” to ban tobacco advertising. This is partly due to the fact that the Clement-Jones’ Bill is identical to the Government Bill which was introduced in the last parliament.

Lord Hunt, the junior health minister said: “The fact that the Bill replicates the words of the Government bill which was introduced means we support its aims and principals, and we wish it well.”

Baroness Jay, a former health minister who in the past supported the Government bill to ban tobacco advertising also spoke at the second reading of the Bill. She urged the government to “repossess” the draft Tobacco Advertising and Promotion bill, saying: “My concluding hope and plea… is that the government will in effect repossess it and take steps to promote it.”

In the same debate Viscount Simon, amongst others, charged tobacco multinationals of dishonesty about the impact of its marketing activity, urging the industry to be “more truthful about its real motives.”

Although Lord Clement-Jones’ bill broadly supported at the second reading, dissenters were present, with Lord Naseby reiterating the oft-aired argument that the proposed legislation would amount to a “gross infringement of some of our fundamental freedoms.”

Source: Marketing Week, Campaign, 13 November 2001

Teenage girls head for unhealthy future

A significant minority of teenage girls are deliberately starving themselves, smoking, drinking and slumping into an unhealthy future, according to the latest survey of young people conducted by the Schools Health Education Unit in Exeter. However most 14 and 15 year olds do not drink at all and only one in five has tried an illicit drug, mostly cannabis. The survey, covering 42,000 young people throughout the UK, revealed that 27 per cent of 14-15 year old girls had smoked at least one cigarette a week, compared with 18 per cent of boys.

Source: Times Educational Supplement, 9/11/01


Drinking and smoking blamed for Scotland's mouth cancer toll

Scotland has the highest incidence of deadly mouth cancer in the UK due to heavy drinking and smoking habits.

New figures reveal that more than 260 Scots die every year from the disease and survivors are often left badly disfigured by the surgery needed to rid them of the tumours.

Mouth cancer is considered to be more lethal than breast cancer and kills more than half of all people suffering from it.

Patients in Scotland, which has one of the worst records for mouth cancer in Europe, account for more than 15% of the total number of mouth cancer victims in the UK.

Yesterday, the beginning of the first National Mouth Cancer Awareness Week, leading dentists warned that the number of victims in Scotland was likely to rise unless people took better care of their mouths.

Dr Iain Macleod, an oral surgeon at the Edinburgh Dental Institute, said people were unaware of the early warning signs. He said that, if treated early enough, the survival rate of patients could be increased to more than 90%.

"Mouth cancer accounts for more than 2% of all cancer deaths in the UK. One in every two people who have mouth cancer will die within five years. This makes it a bigger killer than breast cancer, cervical cancer, and skin melanoma."

Mouth cancer is believed to be caused by toxic chemicals found in cigarettes and alcohol. Dr Macleod said: "In the early stages it can be painless and small, but the tumour can grow quickly into something so big a patient may not be able to close their mouth.

"The tumour starts in the soft tissue of the mouth and around the gums but in the later stages it extends into the bone. If caught within the first 10 months then it can be cured with relative ease."

People over 40 years old are most at risk, although the number of younger victims is increasing.

Surgery can often be extremely damaging as large portions of the mouth need to be removed, leaving victims disfigured.

A spokesman for Mouth Cancer Awareness Week said: "People who are over 40, smoke, drink alcohol heavily or eat chewing tobacco should be checked for mouth cancer at least once a year.

"You can greatly reduce the risk of mouth cancer if you stop using tobacco and eat a healthy diet, rich in fruit and vegetables."

Source: The Herald (Glasgow, Scotland)
Date: Tuesday, November 13, 2001
URL: http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/archive/13-11-19101-0-13-6.html





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