HEADLINES

• Bolton: The cost of smoking
• Wales: Government considering ban on smoking in cars with children
• Scotland: Death rate from illness soars in deprived areas
• Repeat bouts of depression linked to smoking
• USA: Trial of 600 smoking claims begins

• Bolton: The cost of smoking

  Smoking costs Bolton taxpayers and the local economy more than £78 million each year.

  The amount includes the estimated costs to society from fires in homes, deaths, sick days taken from work, the fee for cleaning smoking materials from our streets and the cost to the NHS.

  Early deaths caused by smoking cost  £23.7 million and the NHS is said to spend around £15.6 million dealing with smoking related illness.

  According to figures sick days cost the local economy an estimated £14.4 million.

  Health improvement specialist Liz Wigg at NHS Bolton said: “The full cost of smoking is more than just about money: many people pay with their lives. We’ve made huge strides in Bolton to reduce the number of people smoking, but much more needs to be done."

  Source: This is Lancashire, 27 October 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/tmpOnY

• Wales: Government considering ban on smoking in cars with children

  The Walsh Government is actively considering becoming the first part of the UK to outlaw smoking in cars that are carrying children. The First Minister has said that legislation could be considered if children’s exposure to secondhand smoke did not reduce as a result of a campaign.

  Legislation will not be considered until the end of a three-year campaign warning drivers about the dangers to children of lighting up while driving.

  Mr Jones said: “Our manifesto committed us to take tough action to tackle inequalities in health, particularly the harm caused by tobacco use and its effect on children. The law already requires any vehicle used by more than one person in the course of paid or voluntary work to be smokefree and an extension is the next logical step.

  “We will mount a renewed campaign to tackle smoking alongside other interventions such as quit programmes, but will consider pursuing legislative options if children’s exposure to secondhand smoke does not start to fall within the next three years.”

  Source: Wales Online, 27 October 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/szka93

• Scotland: Death rate from illness soars in deprived areas

  New figures show that cancer death rates are almost 80 per cent higher in the most deprived parts of Scotland compared with the most well-off.

  The statistics revealed that mortality rates for all cancers combined were 79 per cent higher in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived, while incidence of the disease was 34 per cent higher.

  While the total number of cancer deaths has increased in the last decade, due to the ageing population, death rates have dropped by almost 12 per cent – down 15 per cent in men and 7 per cent in women.

  But there has been an 11 per cent increase in lung cancer deaths in women in a decade.

  Cancer Research UK public affairs manager Vicky Crichton said: “Much more must be done to help those smokers who are ready to quit and reduce the devastating effect that tobacco has on so many lives.”

  Source: Scotsman, 27 October 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/vTSsRF

• Repeat bouts of depression linked to smoking

  According to a report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), the risk factors for individuals experiencing repeat episodes of depression include daily smoking, lack of control over life situations (low mastery) and previous depression.

  585 adults from Statistics Canada's National Population Health Survey who had experienced depression in 2000-2001, were examined by the researchers in order to identify risk factors connected with long-term prognosis of depression.

  The investigators discovered that future depressive episodes were not connected with sex, age and income but that long-term depression was linked with low mastery and daily smoking.

  Dr. Ian Colman, Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, with co-authors, explained: "History of depression is a well-known clinical indicator of future depressive episodes; however smoking and mastery are more novel prognostic factors that are not well accounted for in current clinical practice. Future research should evaluate the benefits of including smoking cessation and mastery in existing clinical guidelines for treatment of depression."

  Source: Medical News Today, 26 October 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/szMD7o

• USA: Trial of 600 smoking claims begins

  A West Virginia jury has begun hearing a case intended to resolve more than 600 smoking-related personal- injury cases against the biggest U.S. cigarette makers, including Altria Group Inc.’s Philip Morris unit and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

  Kenneth McClain, a lawyer for the smokers, said in court, “This case is about the corporations’ responsibility. They were actively keeping from the public the information that they had.”

  The jurors will be asked to determine questions related to the companies’ liability, including whether they marketed a defective product. If jurors find for the plaintiffs, they will also determine whether any of the defendants engaged in conduct that can support an award of punitive damages.

  The companies have claimed the two-phase plan is unworkable and violates their right to a fair trial. West Virginia’s Supreme Court, ruling on a question certified for appeal by Recht, found in 2005 that the bifurcated trial plan doesn’t violate the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, clearing the way for the claims to go forward.

  Source: Bloomberg Business Week, 26 October 2011
  Link: http://buswk.co/umUXVT