Japan: Kanagawa region proposes smoking ban

A region near Tokyo has proposed what would be Japan's first ban on smoking in all public areas, including bars.

Kanagawa prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, plans to pass a regulation by the end of this year that would make all public places smokefree as part of efforts to fight cancer, which is the leading cause of death in the region.

Governor Shigefumi Matsuzawa told association leaders in a meeting that, "More and more countries are banning smoking in bars and recreational facilities. Once smoking is banned, there are cases of an increase in new customers, such as families."

Representatives of the restaurant and cafe associations said at the meeting that smaller cafes and bars would be hit hard if smoking was banned on their premises.

But others, such as a union of Japanese restaurants, welcomed the plan, saying food would taste and smell better without cigarette smoke in the air.

Shuichi Otsuka, president of a local cookery association said, "There may be strong resistance to full implementation in the beginning but I think there won't be a significant decrease in the number of customers if the ban is implemented throughout the prefecture."

The proportion of Japanese adults who smoke has slipped to 26 percent from 34 percent a decade ago and a peak of 49 percent in 1966.

Public areas in some parts of the European Union, as well as some states in the United States and countries in Asia, have become smokefree in recent years.

Last year, England and France banned smoking in public places. Hong Kong imposed a smoking ban in all indoor workplaces, as well as restaurants, parks and beaches.
 

Source: Yahoo News, 13 June 2008  
Link: http://tinyurl.com/6m4o3p

Call to license tobacco selling

A group of councillors in Cumbria want tobacco sales to be licensed so tougher penalties could be imposed on traders who flout sales restrictions. 

Members of the county council's health and wellbeing committee are also calling for nicotine replacements to be more widely sold alongside cigarettes.

The task force is now asking the council's scrutiny committee to back its recommendations.

They could form part of the council's response to a government consultation.

Under the proposed changes, retailers who sold cigarettes to children or traded in bootleg tobacco products would risk having their licences revoked.

Shops would also be allowed to sell nicotine replacement products more widely alongside cigarettes and other smoking materials.

Councillor Simon Leyton, a member of the task group, said: "Licensing tobacco products would act as a powerful deterrent against the sale of cigarettes to children.

He added, "Alcohol is licensed and there is no reason why the sale of tobacco should not be subject to similar regulation."

"By tackling smoking and reducing the numbers who smoke, we can improve the health of people, increase life expectancy in Cumbria, and reduce the impact of smoking related disease our communities."
 

Source: BBC News, 14 June 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/499hyc

A year after smoking ban hospitals report a decline in heart attacks

More than half of hospital trusts are treating fewer heart attacks since the ban on smoking in public places came in last year.

As its first anniversary approaches on July 1, nearly six in ten NHS trusts are reporting a dramatic fall in the number of heart attack patients being admitted to emergency wards.

The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Daily Mail, are the first real indication of the impact of the smoking ban on hospital admissions for heart problems in England.

Coronary heart disease costs the country £3.5 billion a year, but the Government has yet to publish statistics about the effects of the ban. However, NHS records show some hospitals have seen the number of cases plummet by 41 per cent since July 2007.

There were 1,384 fewer heart attacks across England in the nine months after the legislation was introduced compared to the same period a year earlier.

That means rates have fallen by 3 per cent across the country since the ban.

Amanda Sandford, of the pressure group Action on Smoking and Health, added: 'This is excellent news. It seems likely that the drop in hospital admissions for heart attacks is linked to the implementation of the smoking ban. It shows just how quickly the benefits can be felt."

She added, 'Even if the overall percentage reduction appears small, the fact that this amounts to over a thousand people whose lives have been saved is extremely important. Any single life saved is worth celebrating.'

It follows similar research in Scotland and Ireland that showed hospital admissions for heart attacks fell by 17 and 14 per cent respectively, in the year after the ban came in there during 2006.

Studies in France and Italy have also pointed to a link between a drop in heart attack rates and smoking restrictions.

Dr Nicholas Boon, president of the British Cardiovascular Society, said: 'This is great news, it is exactly what we hoped and expected to see.

'When you place these figures with the research in Scotland, Ireland, France and Rome, it is consistent with the observation that the ban has been followed by significant improvements in heart attack rates.

Experts believe the ban has triggered a drop in heart attacks due to both the number of people quitting and the reduction in passive smoking as fewer people are exposed to airborne toxins.

The research looked at admissions for heart attacks from 114 trusts, of which 66 saw a drop in admissions between July 2007 and March 2008 compared to that period 12 months earlier.

In total, there were 42,176 admissions to all the trusts from October 2006 to June 2007. But in the nine months after the ban, that number fell by 1,384, or three per cent.

It is estimated that smokers have almost twice the risk of a heart attack compared to those who have never smoked.

Dr Mike Knapton, of the British Heart Foundation, said: 'This is very significant. I think we can say that this indicates the smoking ban has had a beneficial effect on the rate of heart attacks quicker than many people predicted. This shows that the ban was the most significant public health initiative this century."

Dr Knapton added, "'These figures are also fantastically encouraging if you want to give up smoking. It suggests the benefits of stopping smoking are realised faster than you think.'

Source: The Daily Mail, 14 June 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5ubjsn

Also reported in:

Source: The Times, 14 June 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/6dtppz

Source: The Telegraph, 14 June 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/59oqaa

Source: The Evening Standard, 14 June 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5fk4sc

Please note: Although it was reported by some newspapers that hospitals saw a 40% decline in heart attacks the overall figure was 3%.

Australia: Smokefree bars, clubs, attract more customers

The ban on smoking in pubs and clubs has had an unexpected side effect.

The Cancer Council of Victoria say more people are visiting bars and clubs, since the ban was introduced last year.

Fifteen per cent of people surveyed say they visit nightspots more often, now that they are smokefree.

Fiona Sharkie, from the anti-smoking organisation, Quit, says the research shows the smoking ban has been a success.

"What this reinforces for us is that there is overwhelming public support, by both smokers and non-smokers, for smokefree areas and that the ban has had a great affect on reducing smoking in Victoria," she said.

Quit has also called a smoking ban for outdoor dining areas.

She says all outside spaces in pubs and restaurants should be divided into smoking and non-smoking areas.

She said, "In Queensland, even within beer gardens and other outdoor eating areas there are designated areas that are made for smokers."

"But what we're really saying is, we're responding to the vast majority of people that don't smoke and they want to be able to eat in an area that is smokefree."

Source: ABC News, 12 June 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5hnjxk

Outdoor smoking affects children indoors

An Australian study found that parents who smoke outside their house are still exposing their children to the harmful effects of passive smoking.

The study found that the levels of respirable suspended particles, including nicotine, were significantly higher in houses where smokers lived than in smokefree homes - even if they only smoked outside.

Lead author of the study, Dr Krassi Rumchev of Curtin University of Technology, says the findings indicate that the level of passive smoking by children at home may be underestimated, as those whose parents smoked outside were exposed to levels of environmental tobacco smoke high enough to cause harm.

"According to the study, smoking outdoors seems inadequate to protect children," Rumchev says.

"The results demonstrate clearly that if parents want a smokefree environment for children, they need to stop smoking."

She adds that children were more likely to have respiratory illnesses including asthma, coughs and colds than those in smokefree households.

The researchers urge doctors to advise parents to quit and make their homes completely smokefree.

Researchers measured nicotine and respirable particles over 24 hours in the living rooms of households with children aged between four and nine years old.

Although 42% of households had smokers, only 4% said smoking occurred inside. Levels were low in homes without smokers and considerably higher in houses where smoking was reported.

She said, "The findings are concerning, and it's a clear message that more education programmes are required."

"Smokers appear to disperse pollutants into the home when returning inside. When people come inside they're still breathing out smoke and it contaminates the air."

"Nicotine attaches to the hair and body, and pollutants are dispersed into the air off clothes."

Respiratory illness was more prevalent in households with smokers than smoke-free homes. Children exposed to higher air nicotine levels were three times more likely to have asthma or wheeze than those not exposed.

The researchers found that air-conditioning or opening windows did not sufficiently reduce environmental tobacco smoke.

They also say that particulate levels related to gas heating and cooking were accounted for in this study.

The study adds to previous research, which shows that environmental tobacco smoke impacts more in early childhood when the immune system and lungs are developing.

Source: ABC Science, 16 June 2008  
Link: http://tinyurl.com/62ge4a