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ASH Daily News for 18 December 2006

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ASH Daily News
 
16-18 December 2006
 
 
 
HEADLINES
 
The cigarette that puts itself out
Industry sponsored anti-smoking ads may backfire
Smokers set for shock treatment
South Australia: Tough curbs on tobacco displays
Williams fined for on-stage smoking
 
FULL TEXT
 
The cigarette that puts itself out
 
Cigarettes that put themselves out if they are left smouldering will be the only kind European smokers can buy if ministerial plans to cut the hundreds of fatalities caused by house fires become law.
 
The Government is spearheading an EU-wide law that will make it compulsory for all cigarettes to be designed to go out if nobody is smoking them.
 
In Britain, around 5,000 fires a year are caused accidentally by smokers - often when they fall asleep in bed with a cigarette in their hands. In 2004, 114 people died from smoking-related fires and 1,260 people received burns or other injuries.
 
Following lobbying from fire officers, ministers now believe that all cigarettes should be designed to be self-extinguishing. They are leading moves for the new standards to be made law in the EU General Product Safety Directive, which is being drawn up in Brussels.
 
The standards to bring in Reduced-Ignition Propensity (or RIP) cigarettes in all EU countries including Britain is expected to cut the number of deaths from smoking by at least a third.
 
In Canada and New York, all cigarettes must be produced to this standard, but in the UK, it is being opposed by most tobacco manufacturers. They question evidence that the cigarettes would reduce fires and believe that cigarettes produced with paper made with special self-extinguishing bands could change the smoking experience.
 
Deborah Arnott of the anti-smoking lobby group Ash said: "We are really pleased that this is now on the table. The technology has been around for over 20 years but the tobacco industry has been trying to hold this up for far too long.
 
"Over the years, thousands of people have died because this technology has not been put in place. We have seen quite severe disability and people losing their homes because of fires caused by cigarettes. The burns you can get are really quite horrific."
 
Earlier this year, a fire caused by smoking left a child aged under 18 months with burns to almost half his body. Two of his toes had to be amputated. His house was gutted by the fire, leaving his family homeless.
 
In Canada, where cigarettes are by law required to put themselves out if nobody is drawing on them, the number of fires caused by cigarettes has been reduced by two-thirds. Britain's Department for Communities and Local Government believes the change will help it to meet targets to cut the number of deaths in house fires by a fifth by 2010.
 
Angela Smith, the Communities minister spearheading the drive, said: "We are the ones that are pressing for European standards. The fire service and fire brigades' unions are all lined up with us. We are doing it for fire safety."
 
David Taylor, Labour MP for North-west Leicestershire and chairman of Parliament's all-party group on smoking and health, said that it was often non-smokers, including children, who were killed or hurt by fires caused by smokers.
 
He said. "Three and a half thousand domestic fires are caused each year by this. It is people going to sleep while smoking in bed or watching the television who cause these fires."
 
The tobacco firm Philip Morris produced a fire-safe cigarette four years ago, but a spokesman for the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association said most cigarette producers opposed the change and wanted to see more evidence that the new cigarettes would save lives.
 
The spokesman said: "We are worried these cigarettes could produce complacency among smokers. There's no such thing as a fire-safe cigarette."
 
Cigarettes that put themselves out if they are left smouldering will be the only kind European smokers can buy if ministerial plans to cut the hundreds of fatalities caused by house fires become law.
 
The Government is spearheading an EU-wide law that will make it compulsory for all cigarettes to be designed to go out if nobody is smoking them.
 
In Britain, around 5,000 fires a year are caused accidentally by smokers - often when they fall asleep in bed with a cigarette in their hands. In 2004, 114 people died from smoking-related fires and 1,260 people received burns or other injuries.
 
Following lobbying from fire officers, ministers now believe that all cigarettes should be designed to be self-extinguishing. They are leading moves for the new standards to be made law in the EU General Product Safety Directive, which is being drawn up in Brussels.
 
The standards to bring in Reduced-Ignition Propensity (or RIP) cigarettes in all EU countries including Britain is expected to cut the number of deaths from smoking by at least a third.
 
In Canada and New York, all cigarettes must be produced to this standard, but in the UK, it is being opposed by most tobacco manufacturers. They question evidence that the cigarettes would reduce fires and believe that cigarettes produced with paper made with special self-extinguishing bands could change the smoking experience.
 
Deborah Arnott of the anti-smoking lobby group Ash said: "We are really pleased that this is now on the table. The technology has been around for over 20 years but the tobacco industry has been trying to hold this up for far too long.
 
"Over the years, thousands of people have died because this technology has not been put in place. We have seen quite severe disability and people losing their homes because of fires caused by cigarettes. The burns you can get are really quite horrific."
Earlier this year, a fire caused by smoking left a child aged under 18 months with burns to almost half his body. Two of his toes had to be amputated. His house was gutted by the fire, leaving his family homeless.
 
In Canada, where cigarettes are by law required to put themselves out if nobody is drawing on them, the number of fires caused by cigarettes has been reduced by two-thirds. Britain's Department for Communities and Local Government believes the change will help it to meet targets to cut the number of deaths in house fires by a fifth by 2010.
 
Angela Smith, the Communities minister spearheading the drive, said: "We are the ones that are pressing for European standards. The fire service and fire brigades' unions are all lined up with us. We are doing it for fire safety."
 
David Taylor, Labour MP for North-west Leicestershire and chairman of Parliament's all-party group on smoking and health, said that it was often non-smokers, including children, who were killed or hurt by fires caused by smokers.
 
He said. "Three and a half thousand domestic fires are caused each year by this. It is people going to sleep while smoking in bed or watching the television who cause these fires."
 
The tobacco firm Philip Morris produced a fire-safe cigarette four years ago, but a spokesman for the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association said most cigarette producers opposed the change and wanted to see more evidence that the new cigarettes would save lives.
 
The spokesman said: "We are worried these cigarettes could produce complacency among smokers. There's no such thing as a fire-safe cigarette."
 
The Independent 17 Dec. 2006
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2081657.ece
 
 
Industry sponsored anti-smoking ads may backfire
 
Tobacco company-sponsored anti-smoking advertising aimed at youths not only has no negative effect on teen smoking, it may actually encourage youngsters to smoke, according to a study co-authored by an Oregon State University researcher.
 
Results from the study also show that tobacco industry-sponsored prevention ads aimed at parents often have harmful effects on students, also increasing their likelihood of smoking.
 
"We suspected this the minute we saw the kind of ads the tobacco companies were creating," said Brian Flay, a professor in the Department of Public Health at Oregon State University. "Their objective is to get customers, not to stop customers from finding them."
 
The study appears in the December issue of American Journal of Public Health.
 
Flay was one of nine researchers from Bridging the Gap, a policy research program based at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Michigan, who worked on this study, which is the first to examine how youth are affected by parent-targeted ads sponsored by the tobacco industry.
 
More than 100,000 students from all areas of the country in 8th, 10th and 12th grades were surveyed to assess the relationship between exposure to tobacco company prevention advertising and youth smoking-related beliefs, intentions and behaviors. Researchers linked these data with Nielsen Media Research data on the exposure of youth to smoking-related ads that appeared on network and cable stations in the 75 largest United States media markets from 1999 to 2002.
 
Some of the findings include:
 
* Each additional youth-targeted prevention ad viewed by a student resulted in a 3 percent stronger intention among all students to smoke in the future.
 
* There was a 12 percent increase in the likelihood that 10th- and 12th-grade students would become smokers if they watched prevention ads targeted at their parents.
 
* On average, the students were exposed to more than four youth-targeted ads per month.
 
In analyzing the data, researchers adjusted their analysis for factors other than tobacco company prevention ads that might have had an effect on levels of youth smoking. Those additional factors include smoking laws, cigarette prices and other televised advertising about not smoking.
 
The National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded the study.
 
Flay, who has conducted school-based and health research for more than 30 years, said parents who find the amount of advertising targeting their children overwhelming can take preventative steps.
 
"Parents should have a clear message about smoking and always reinforce that message against smoking from an early age," he said.
 
"Even parents who are smokers can make it clear and communicate to their child that they wished they hadn’t started smoking, because the majority of smokers do feel that way."
 
Medi Lexicon 17 Dec 2006
http://www.medilexicon.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=59010  
 
 
Smokers set for shock treatment
 
Smokers could be shocked into quitting by a new project telling them how long they have left to live. Wearside smokers are set to be given a frightening look into what their future holds if they carry on lighting up and don't do any exercise.
 
The new scheme is working with 626 sufferers of "smoker's lung" to highlight the dangers of long-term smoking and encouraging them to quit.
The illness, called COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), is Sunderland's third most common cause of death and is usually caused by smoking.
 
The number of people diagnosed with COPD – a term used for a number of conditions including chronic bronchitis and emphysema – in the city is twice the national average.
 
Doctors, nurses and other health staff from across the city are working on the BOD (body mass index, airway obstruction and disability) project.
Patients are ranked on a scale which shows how long they have left to live if they don't change their lifestyle.
 
Health workers hope it will help patients with COPD appreciate the impact the illness has and encourage them to join a stop smoking programme.
The scale was developed by Dr Niall Keaney, consultant chest physician, with research associate Andrea Kay, at Sunderland Royal Hospital's chest clinic.
 
Brent Kilmurray, executive director of strategy and service development at City Hospitals Sunderland, said: "This project is ultimately about getting people to quit smoking by showing them how long they have left to live if they don't.
 
"The cost of treating smoking-related illnesses is rising and we must do something to prevent this.  One of the ways is by working with those patients before it's too late, trying to reverse smoking-related illnesses and getting people to see the effects smoking has on their health and life.
"Most importantly, it's about supporting them in their efforts to stop and investing money at the right point."
 
Sunderland Echo 15 Dec 2006
http://www.sunderland-echo.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1107&ArticleID=1933119
 
 
 
South Australia: Tough curbs on tobacco displays
 
The display of tobacco products will be restricted in all retail outlets in South Australia under tough new regulations announced today.
 
The changes will come into effect in November next year.
 
Substance Abuse Minister Gail Gago said they further demonstrated the State Government's commitment to reduce smoking, which kills 1500 South Australians every year.
 
The tougher regulations would reduce the amount of public displays promoting tobacco products and require sellers to display graphic health warning posters similar to those shown on cigarette packs.
 
"The restrictions will limit the size of tobacco displays to three square metres which must carry an A-3 sized stark image of the effects of smoking adjacent to the packets," Ms Gago said.
 
Alternatively, displays of between one and three square metres must carry an A-4 size graphic warning.
 
"The graphic displays are intended to shock people, particularly young people, into a fear of smoking.
 
"Most tobacco retailers will no longer be able to display cigarette cartons and will be limited to displaying only one packet of each product."
 
Specialist tobacconists will be allowed a small amount of additional display area for their cigar range.
 
Large stores would also be prevented from prominent displays of tobacco products facing public areas, such as malls.
 
Information kits would go out to all retailers and wholesalers in the new year.
 
News Now.com 18 December  2006
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20945427-5006301,00.html
 
 
Williams fined for on-stage smoking
 
Robbie Williams has been fined for flouting a smoking ban while on stage in Australia.
 
Despite warnings, the singer lit up on two consecutive nights at the no-smoking venue, and was charged £120.
 
However, the political leader of Queensland - the state the gig was in - has come to the star's aid. Peter Beattie said he would step in to stop the fine becoming an issue.
 
He explained: "I’ll be paying the fines myself because I don’t want to see this turned into an opportunity to continue to promote that bad-boy image.
 
"He is a guest of Queensland. He came here, entertained a lot of Queenslanders and put a lot of money into the Queensland economy."
 
Health group The Queensland Cancer Fund said Williams was a "very bad boy" and a spokesman for the country's Health Minister said he was a bad role model.
 
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds40856.html
December 18 2006
 
 



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