HEADLINES

• NHS helps more smokers quit
• British Heart Foundation calls for plain packaging
• Cigarette smoking implicated in half of bladder cancers in women
• USA: Cigarette companies sue FDA over new labelling rules
• Switzerland: Court decides that stop smoking aids should be provided for free

• NHS helps more smokers quit

  The number of smokers turning to the NHS for help to kick the habit has trebled in the last decade, data shows, with nearly 788,000 using the services in England this year at a cost of £84.3m, figures from the NHS Information Centre reveal.

  NHS Information Centre chief executive Tim Straughan said: "NHS Stop Smoking Services in England saw more quit dates set with it in the last financial year than ever before; and indeed the greatest ever number of successful quit attempts." However, there has been a slight fall in success rates, with just under half of supported quit attempts succeeding.

   

  Martin Dockrell, Director of Policy and Research at Action on Smoking and Health, said: "This shows how much people want to quit and yet how hard it can be. The Stop Smoking Services provide the best chance of success in helping a person to stop smoking. Few smokers will manage to quit first time so it is encouraging that a greater number of smokers are getting the best available help."

   

  The Daily Mail: http://bit.ly/q1YtsL

   

  The Daily Mirror: http://bit.ly/pxV2ud
  Source: BBC online, 16 August 2011
  Link: http://bbc.in/nYfPyF

• British Heart Foundation calls for plain packaging

  Cigarette packaging has been thrown back into the limelight after a study last week showed that women are 25% more likely to develop heart disease from smoking than men.

  Following the publication of the findings in The Lancet, the British Heart Foundation said that the figures proved the need to reduce the attraction of smoking by bringing forward rules on plain packaging.

   

  The study speculated that the difference could be related to physiological differences or cigarette smoke toxins having a more potent effect on women.

  
   British Heart Foundation senior cardiac nurse Ellen Mason said: “This is very timely research as tobacco companies are increasingly targeting women with slim brands and slick packaging. Introducing plain packaging would help to increase the effectiveness of health warnings and reduce the attractiveness and appeal of tobacco products.”

  
   
  Source: Packaging News, 15 August 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/pFzI9t

• Cigarette smoking implicated in half of bladder cancers in women

  
  Current cigarette smokers have a higher risk of bladder cancer than previously reported, and the risk in women is now comparable to that in men, according to a study by scientists from the American National Cancer Institute, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

  This study uses data from over 450,000 participants in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, with new data indicating that smoking is responsible for about half of female bladder cancer cases – similar to the proportion found in men. Previous studies had shown that only 20 to 30 percent of bladder cancer cases in women were caused by smoking.

   

  The increase in the proportion of smoking-attributable bladder cancer cases among women may be a result of the increased prevalence of smoking by women, with men and women now equally likely to smoke. The majority of the earlier studies were conducted at time periods or in geographic regions where smoking was much less common among women.
  Source: First Science, 16 August 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/pc5q7h

• USA: Cigarette companies sue FDA over new labelling rules

  Four big cigarette makers have sued the Food and Drug Administration, seeking to void as unconstitutional new graphic labels and advertising warning about the risks of smoking and encouraging smokers to quit.

  The lawsuit by Reynolds American Inc, Lorillard Inc, Liggett Group LLC and Commonwealth Brands Inc said the warnings required by September, 2012 would force cigarette makers to "engage in anti-smoking advocacy" on the government's behalf.

   

  They said this violates their free speech rights under the First Amendment, according to a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

  
  The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act requires colour warnings covering the top half of the front and back panels of cigarette packages, and the top 20 percent of printed advertising. Dead bodies, diseased lungs and rotting teeth are among the images expected to appear.
  Source: Reuters, 16 August 2011
  Link: http://reut.rs/pah889

• Switzerland: Court decides that stop smoking aids should be provided for free

  Basic compulsory health insurance in Switzerland will now cover costs of medication taken to aid quitting tobacco.

  The decision by the health office was made following a Federal Court ruling that ‘under certain conditions’ tobacco addiction could be considered to be an illness.

   

  The case was brought by pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which wanted its Champix (or Chantix) medication included in the list of medicines reimbursed by basic insurance.
  Source: Tobacco Reporter Magazine, 17 August 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/pwSAnb