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ASH Daily News

16 November 2006

[View html version: http://www.globalink.org/nbuk]

HEADLINES

Licensees warned against 'apathy' in light of smoking law

Indian celebrities should stop endorsing tobacco, WHO expert suggests

Cigarette company profits affected by prospect of cheap online sales

Smoking and Rheumatoid Arthritis studies

FULL TEXT

Licensees warned against 'apathy' in light of smoking law

Licensees have been warned of the dangers of "apathy" when it comes to next summer's smoking ban.

"Apathy with the ban is the most dangerous thing that can happen," said Andrew Thompson, Punch Taverns' operations director (North), who has helped oversee the legislation for the company's pubs in Scotland. "No action, no option."

However, during his speech at the Federation of Licensed Victuallers' Associations AGM in Scarborough last week, he added that Scottish pubs which had adapted to the ban had flourished. "The good news is that the world hasn't ended," he said. "Great pubs have remained great pubs and the good pubs have become great pubs."

Mr Thompson pointed to an increase in food sales and retail standards as positives that had come from the ban. But he urged licensees to speak to their customers in preparation for the legislation and to give customers a reason to visit.

"Remember that people go to the pub to socialise and the fact they can't smoke may not stop them going because there are no pubs they can smoke in."

Mr Thompson said smokers congregating outside pubs could become an issue. In Scotland he said the authorities were starting to take notice. However he said that one of the successes of the Scottish story had been the self-policing by the trade.

Later Michelle Baker, project director of clean-air initiative AIR, said inconsistencies across local authorities and the problem of delays over planning applications were creating difficulties. She also highlighted that councils had been cracking down on people smoking in doorways of pubs and noise was becoming the most difficult issue.

In terms of the impact the ban has had, she explained that a new circuit had developed for smokers, with them making decisions based on who has the best smoking facilities.

Source: Publican, 16 November 2006
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/td7da


Indian celebrities should stop endorsing tobacco, WHO expert suggests

Chronic diseases expert Dr Robert Beaglehole has suggested that India could formulate a legislation that would ban film stars and sports personalities from endorsing tobacco products.

Such legislation exists in countries including New Zealand, Australia and Canada, and have helped bring down the number of chronic disease cases tremendously.

However, Beaglehole said India should first try to reach a voluntary consensus with the stars. Urging film star Shahrukh Khan to stop on screen promotion of tobacco, a social malice, Beaglehole, who is WHO's director of chronic diseases and health promotion, said tobacco was the prime culprit behind India's tremendous burden of chronic diseases.

At present, nearly six million people die every year of heart attacks, cancer, stroke and diabetes, most of whom are middle aged. 80% of these deaths are preventable.

Speaking to TOI from Agra, Beaglehole, who is in India to attend a Global Youth Meet on Health, said: "Chronic diseases are killing Indians in the prime of their life. The deaths due to chronic diseases here are twice as high as in the US and Canada, which were once as affected by the burden."

"Because such chronic diseases take shape in young people, who worship public figures like film stars, singers and sports stars, those like Shah rukh Khan and Michael Schumacher must be extra careful of their actions. Icons should encourage healthy living."

He added, "Celebrities in both Hollywood and Bollywood are endorsing tobacco by smoking in films. They are encouraged by the industry. And when we question the acts, the stars have many excuses. Their actions are unhelpful. They send a wrong message to their huge fan following." He also suggested that the Indian government impose heavy taxes on tobacco products to discourage their consumption.

Source: Times of India, 16 November 2006
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/y6fj6p


Cigarette company profits affected by prospect of cheap online sales

Gallaher and Imperial Tobacco traded lower on concerns that European citizens may be able to buy cheap cigarettes online from low-excise European Union countries.

On November 23, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is set to rule on whether private individuals using the internet and mail order can benefit from the same law that now governs purchases of alcohol. Late last year, an EU advocate-general ruled that duty was payable only in the place of purchase, and not at the destination, as long as the purchase is for personal consumption and transport of the goods is arranged by the individual.

If the ECJ rubber-stamps this opinion, the outcome could be "very damaging" for British tobacco companies, Dresdner Kleinwort says. Charles Manso de Zunigo, a tobacco analyst, said that it would not be difficult to envisage 20 per cent of consumption or more moving to cheaper excise countries.

Source: Times, 15 November 2006
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/y5733l


Smoking and Rheumatoid Arthritis studies

The role of smoking as a risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis was supported by several studies reported at the American College of Rheumatology's annual meeting.

Japanese researchers who undertook a meta-analysis of sixteen studies concluded that the strongest association between smoking history and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) occurred for Rheumatoid Factor positive men.

Swedish researchers found that current smokers had a higher risk of severe extra-articular manifestations of RA than non-smokers.

They speculate that smoking may have an impact on disease mechanisms in RA, including those leading to extra-articular disease.

Source: Medical News Today, 16 November 2006
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/scyxv
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