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ASH Daily News

19 October 2006

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

HEADLINES

Students allowed to smoke at school

Attacks on traffic wardens blamed on smoking ban

Patients in pyjamas are allowed to continue smoking

Chronic diseases being overlooked

No tobacco product placement on TV, say the viewers

FULL TEXT

Students allowed to smoke at school

Students at Tinshill Learning Centre in Leeds have been allowed to
continue to smoke during breaks, as long as they have permission from
their parents.

Tinshill caters for 120 children between 14 and 16 who have been
expelled from mainstream schools.

The policy is meant to help pupils stop smoking and reduce
confrontations with teachers. Letters outlining the move were sent out
to parents at the beginning of term. So far, ten children have been
given permission.

Teachers' unions attacked the policy yesterday. Patrick Murphy,
secretary of Leeds National Union of Teachers said "What sort of message
does it send out when a school says it's all right to smoke on the
premises, even if you are not old enough to buy them?"

A spokesman for Education Leeds said: "We do everything to support our
young people to make healthy lifestyle choices. Unfortunately, a number
of young people who attend Tinshill do smoke and sometimes we have to
take a special approach to a very serious problem.

"Their smoking did not begin at the centre and is not encouraged or
condoned by us. We have introduced this trial to help them move from
their dangerous habit towards a smoking cessation programme. This
follows guidance from health professionals by bringing the problem out
into the open, informing parents and carers of their child's habit."

Deborah Arnott, Director of ASH, said: "I understand that teachers are
operating in difficult circumstances but I find it hard to see how
condoning smoking will help them give up."

Source: Telegraph 19 Oct. 06
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/yhrwh2
Also reported in the Evening Standard http://tinyurl.com/yblobs



Attacks on traffic wardens blamed on smoking ban

The Press and Journal has claimed that people standing outside pubs in
Scotland have been subjecting traffic wardens to threatening abuse since
the implementation of the smoking ban.

Staff in Aberdeen claim there has been an upsurge in attacks since the
legislation prohibiting smoking in public places was brought in during
March.

Politicians said last night that they were "shocked and appalled" by the
news and called on police to take serious action against offenders.

Maureen Moore, chief executive of ASH Scotland, said she found the
situation 'quite baffling'. "I can't understand it and I have not heard
of this happening anywhere else," she said. "I can only imagine they are
drivers because it is nothing to do with legislation or implementing it.
The only problems I have heard of are increased noise opposite
residences."

Council leader Kate Dean said she was "quite shocked" by the news. "I
would ask the people doing this to think twice because these people are
going about their daily work just like everyone else and don't deserve
to be abused."

Source: This is North Scotland 19 Oct. 06
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/ydrwwn



Patients in pyjamas are allowed to continue smoking

In Tayside and Fife hospitals in Scotland patients in pyjamas will still
be allowed to go outside for a cigarette. This will be the only
exclusion to the smoking ban after Nov 23.

All other people including outpatients, visitors, contractors and staff
will be banned from smoking in all NHS buildings and grounds. The ban
includes all vehicles parked on NHS sites.

Andrew Radley NHS Tayside's lead pharmacist in the directorate of public
health outlined extra services that have been put in place to support
people wanting to give up smoking.

Committee member and Dundee GP David Dorward said that hospital porters
spent a lot of time looking for patients who required to be taken for
physiotherapy, body scanning and other investigations. "Most of the time
they are in transit between the smoking shelters and the ward," said Dr
Dorward.

Referring to discussions earlier about the need for nursing staff to
accurately log their advice to patients regarding smoking and the
patients' insistence to be allowed to go outside for a cigarette, Dr
Dorward said that was going to take a lot of nursing time.

Health union representative Robin Hunter from UNISON welcomed new
guidelines for managing hospital inpatients who wished to smoke which
had been a "serious concern" of staff for a long time.

The new guidelines are designed to make clear that if staff advise a
patient properly and record the patient's decision in notes
appropriately they were "relieved of any responsibility" if the patient
chose to leave the ward to smoke.

But Mr Hunter said there was a "lurking doubt" as to whether the nurses'
professional body would allow nursing staff to be relieved of their
duties to a patient in that way. Advice was still being awaited on that
score.

Source: The Courier 19 Oct. 06
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/yblyq4



Chronic diseases being overlooked

Chronic diseases are being overlooked worldwide even though they kill
more people, according the Center for Strategic and International
Studies.

Chronic diseases, which are non-communicable illnesses such as heart
disease, cancer and diabetes, often go ignored because they are not as
'dramatic' as infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS or avian flu,
according to Olusoji Adeyi, coordinator of public health programs at the
World Bank.

The World Health Organisation estimates that chronic diseases account
for 60% of global deaths and will account for about three-quarters of
deaths by 2020.

According to Rachel Nugent, director of health and economics at the
Population Reference Bureau, many people hold the inaccurate view that
chronic diseases mostly affect old and rich populations. About 50% of
the people who die from chronic disease are younger than age 70, and 80%
of chronic disease deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries,
Nugent said.

She called the current approach to treating such diseases "nonexistent
to fragmented," adding that chronic diseases lead to increased medical
costs and a dwindling workforce.

Nugent said tobacco taxes and healthy eating campaigns are examples of
cost-effective prevention efforts. The centre called for more research
and an open approach to chronic disease that encompasses an array of
ailments and countries worldwide

Source: Medical News Today 18 Oct 06
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/yzg63k



No tobacco product placement on TV, say the viewers

A consultation by Ofcom has shown that the majority of broadcasters
would back moves to relax regulations prohibiting product placement on
TV and radio programmes. However, the proposed changes were met with
opposition from consumer and viewer organisations.

Ofcom, the media regulator has published key points over the controlled
introduction of product placement in the UK, which is currently
prohibited under European law.

In the event that product placement is allowed, respondents said that
viewers should be made aware that products were deliberately being
placed in programmes. Respondents believe that product placement should
be excluded from news and current affairs and that tobacco products not
be placed.

Respondents also said that TV writers and artists should have the right
to refuse to endorse certain products.

Source: BrandRepublic 19 Oct. 06
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/ynfaa5

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Sarah Ward
Information Manager
Action on Smoking & Health (ASH)
102 Clifton Street
London
EC2A 4HW

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