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ASH Daily News
22 October 2002


HEADLINES
MPs approve tobacco ad ban
Lung cancer targeted in research review
Customs men back The Sun


FULL TEXT

MPs approve tobacco ad ban

The final stage of the tobacco advertising and promotion bill was completed
last night with MPs giving the bill an unopposed Third reading. The bill
now needs Royal Assent before becoming law, probably by the end of this
year. The timetable for the phasing out of tobacco sponsorship of sport is
still to be determined by regulations but is likely to come into effect by
the end of 2003 for most sports and by 2006 for ‘global’ sports such as
motor racing.

During the debate, Conservative health spokesman Tim Loughton questioned the
evidence that tobacco advertising bans work, claiming that there was no firm
evidence to link tobacco advertising with the prevalence of smoking,
particularly among children. But Kelvin Hopkins MP said it was “quite
extraordinary” to claim that advertising did not affect take-up of smoking.
He wanted to know why tobacco firms spent “billions” on promotion and were
so opposed to a ban.

On the issue of having a body to monitor the ban’s effectiveness which had
been one of the Tories’ demands, the public health minister Hazel Blears
said “we will keep the legislation under review but it isn’t necessary to
prescribe this in the bill”. This view was echoed by Evan Harris MP, the
Liberal Democrat’s health spokesman, who said: “The evidence to me is clear
that the tobacco industry and the advertising associated with it has been
proven guilty.”

Daily Telegraph, The Independent, 22/10/02


Lung cancer targeted in research review

Research to combat lung cancer, which kills more Britons than any other form
of disease, is severely under-funded compared with breast cancer and
leukaemia, according to a National Cancer Research Institute study. Lung
cancer accounts for 22 per cent of all UK cancer deaths but receives less
than 4 per cent of the £500 million in research money generated each year.
By contrast leukaemia, which accounts for just 2.5 per cent of cancer
deaths, receives 18 per cent of the research funds. Clive Bates, director
of ASH, commented: “Leukaemia affects children, it is emotive. Lung caner
is almost entirely connected with smoking. And smokers are old, poor and
blamed. It’s not a sexy cancer.” Dame Helena Shovelton, chief executive of
the British Lung Foundation, said the new report could serve as a wake up
call. “At long last there is recognition that lung cancer is severely
under-funded and we urgently need to address the need for early diagnosis if
we are going to reverse this trend.” An editorial in The Express notes
that “Research established the cause of lung cancer year ago but much needs
to be done to improve diagnosis and treatment. Whatever the cause of their
illness, those with lung cancer and their families feel pain – and medicine
is about alleviating pain. Research should not be rationed according to
moral judgments.”

The Express, 22/10/02 Also reported in The Daily Telegraph, the Mirror,
Sun, Guardian, The Times, Independent.


Customs men back The Sun

The Sun leads with the revelation that two customs officers support the
newspaper’s campaign to stop them picking on cross-Channel shoppers.
According to the Sun, the ‘highly experienced officers’ said their bosses
were wrong to target people stocking up on cheap cigarettes and alcohol.
The officers also said that there were financial incentives to carry out
stop and search. One officer said: “The more tobacco you take, the more
you move up the ladder on your pay scale.” The paper also publishes a
selection of letters from readers expressing their support for the change in
customs policy.

The Sun, 22/10/02



Amanda Sandford
Research Manager
ASH
102 Clifton Street
LONDON
EC2A 4HW
Tel. 020 7739 5902
Fax.020 7613 0531
amanda.sandford@ash.org.uk