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ASH Daily news for 14 February 2011

HEADLINES

  • Valentine's Day prompt to quit smoking in East Midlands

    Smokers in the East Midlands are being encouraged to kick the habit for Valentine's Day and share a "fresh breath" kiss with a partner.

    The NHS is now offering free "Quit Kits" to help those wanting to stop.

    The packs, developed by NHS Smokefree, contain vouchers for nicotine replacement patches as well as practical tools and advice.

    Helen Shields, from Stop Smoking Services East Midlands, said thousands of people still wanted to quit smoking.

    She said: "In the East Midlands there are still around 19% of people who smoke and we know that around two thirds would like to stop.

    "Quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for your appearance, health and for your loved one this Valentine's."
     

    Source: BBC News, 13 Feb 2011
    Link: http://bbc.in/hLbQ0f

  • Hong Kong: Anger at pre-budget tobacco lobbying

    Anti-smoking activists say government officials breached an international health guideline by meeting tobacco companies ahead of next week's budget.

    They say this violated the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which states governments should protect public health policies from the interests of the tobacco industry.

    The government is under pressure from doctors, health groups and the anti-smoking lobby to raise the tobacco tax. The consensus seems to be for a rise of at least 75 per cent of the retail price, from 62 per cent. This would add about HK$5 to a pack of cigarettes but still leave them among the cheapest in the developed world.

    Public health academics will submit a statement to Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah today in protest at the meeting. They want a full disclosure of what was discussed.

    "What is the tobacco industry trying to lobby for ahead of the budget?" asked Professor Judith Mackay, an adviser to the World Lung Foundation and a policy adviser to the WHO. "Since so many health groups have advocated a tobacco tax increase this year, it will be extremely suspicious if tobacco tax is not raised to 75 per cent in the budget. We will then have to look if there were other influences."

    Source: South China Morning Post, 14 Feb. 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/fS5xih

  • China: Smoking all the profits

    China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of tobacco products.  The China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC), the state-run cash cow that holds an effective monopoly on the industry, is a source of good business for the party: in 2010, Big Tobacco paid 498.85 billion yuan (around $75 billion) in taxes to the Chinese government, according to the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration. More than 300 million Chinese adults smoke—among them more than half of all Chinese men. In 2009, the CNTC says, it produced a whopping 2.3 trillion cigarettes.

    But all this puffing is sparking serious public-health questions, and experts are now questioning if short-term profits will soon be outweighed by long-term health costs to the state.

    Along with a team of researchers, Yang Gonghuan, the deputy director-general of China’s Center for Disease Control, has published a new report laying out how tobacco is a big drag on the country. Profits from producing cigarettes will fall far short of the eventual health costs of smoking-related illnesses, says Gonghuan. By the report’s estimation, cigarette-industry revenue accounts for some 6.7 percent of Beijing’s income. By contrast, the report states that tobacco “overall poses a loss rather than a benefit to China,” and other research puts estimated costs from tobacco at about 25 percent more than the revenue generated by the industry.

    Source: Newsweek, 13 Feb. 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/fXE57h

  • India: Cancer doctors take tobacco battle inside parliament

    Frustrated by the lackadaisical approach of the government in fighting tobacco-related cancer, two doctors from Mumbai took 40 patients to Delhi to meet politicians, hoping that direct contact with victims would finally swing lawmakers into action.


    The patients, being treated at Tata Memorial Hospital, were brought together by Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi of TMH and Dr P C Gupta of Healis Sekhsaria Institute of Public Health to voice their concerns and petition for effective bans on Gutkha and strict pictorial warnings on cigarette packets.

    The victims shared their experiences with the leaders, stressing that though they had survived, they led severely disabled lives some having lost their sense of taste, some suffering from speech impediments, and some with severe respiratory disorders.

    Why is the government still not taking a harsh stand on the issue, they asked.

    The response, the doctors said, was overwhelming. Not only did all three politicians pledge to take up the issue urgently, Swaraj even promised that the victims would be taken to Parliament in the upcoming Budget session so that the rest of the House could see their plight directly.

    "Last year, there was a government notification that stringent warnings were to be carried on cigarette packs. It was to come into effect on December 1, but on December 20, the government gave the tobacco companies two more years.

    This happened after a cabinet decision and there was immense pressure from the tobacco manufacturers," Dr Chaturvedi told Mumbai Mirror.

    Source: Mumbai mirror, 13 Feb. 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/iasIFD

  • USA: RJ Reynolds to pay $260K to smoker who developed cancer

    Camel cigarettes maker R.J. Reynolds has been forced to pay more than 260,000 US dollars in damages to an elderly man who developed cancer from smoking.

    Leroy Kirkland had sought damages of more than 10 billion dollars from the company, which is the largest award ever sought by an individual, but he settled for 260,000 dollars.

    The 71-year-old, of Tampa, argued in a Florida court that smoking cigarettes had caused him cancer and emphysema.

    The jury ordered the company to pay Kirkland 10,000 dollars in compensatory damages and 250,000 dollars in punitive damages.

    Source: Sify News 13 Feb. 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/hNKLw3

  • Japan Tobacco aims to boost profit in Russia, Eastern Europe

    Japan Tobacco, the world’s third-largest publicly traded cigarette maker, aims to boost overseas profit by at least 10 percent as a tax increase reduces demand in the domestic market.

    Japan Tobacco plans to increase sales in countries including Russia, Yasushi Shingai, executive vice president of the JT International SA unit, said in an interview on Feb. 10 in Tokyo, where the company is based. The cigarette maker will focus on its more profitable brands including Mild Seven and Winston, he said.

    The company is targeting profit growth in Russia even as the country seeks to crack down on smoking through an advertising ban and higher taxes. Eastern Europe including Russia is the biggest overseas market for Japan Tobacco, accounting for 48 percent of its international unit’s sales volume in 2010, the company said.

    The company had a 37 percent market share in Russia. Japan Tobacco also aims to expand sales in the Middle East and North Africa, Shingai said.

    Source: Bloomberg news, 13 Feb 2011
    Link: http://bloom.bg/evaECe