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ASH Daily News

25 October 2000

Headlines
'Hospital staff flog patients bent cigs'
Tips on what to do to reduce passive smoking at work
Letter: 'Impossible claims for tobacco controls'
'Vodka and smoking lay Russians low'

Full Text

'Hospital staff flog patients bent cigs'

Health secretary Alan Milburn has ordered an urgent inquiry into allegations
that an organised cigarette-smuggling ring is operating within his local
hospital, Darlington Memorial Hospital.

A letter to the Health Secretary claimed that there was "a significant
distribution network of contraband cigarette sales which flows freely within
the Memorial Hospital Darlington which satisfies both staff and patient
needs".

A spokeswoman for Alan Milburn's constituency office said: "We raised it
with
the hospital who are taking it very seriously."

John Saxby, chief executive of the South Durham Health Care NHS Trust,
warned
that any staff caught selling contraband cigarettes faced dismissal. "We
have to make it absolutely plain that any member of staff involved in
selling contraband cigarettes would face two consequences. They would be
reported to the relevant authorities and they would undoubtedly be
dismissed. It is illegal."

Source: Daily Star, 25 October 2000

Tips on what to do to reduce passive smoking at work

A profile on the problem of passive smoking at work appears in the Caterer &
Hotelkeeper. It lists several practical ways in which pubs and restaurants
can do something to help reduce the chance of staff suing for the damage
done to their health by passive smoking at work. Tips include an
introduction of smoke free areas, a ban on smoking at the bar. The article
also urges managers to monitor the situation to see if the measures do
improve the conditions for staff.

Source: Cater & Hotelkeeper, 19 October 2000

Letter: 'Impossible claims for tobacco controls'

Dr Roger Bate, of the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington DC,
writes a letter to the Financial Times.
He writes, 'The FCTC should be rejected, in its current form, by national
governments because the restrictions proposed on smoking are substantial:
guaranteed protection from passive smoking, tax to make up at least
two-thirds of the pack price (a massive price rise for smokers in developing
countries), a ban on vending machines, removal of tobacco from retail price
indices, WHO approval of all chemicals in tobacco products, bans on all
forms of advertising and sport sponsorship, bans on sales of cigarettes in
packs under 20, no mention of "light" or "mild" to describe products,
tobacco packaging to include at least 50 per cent coverage with anti-tobacco
pictures and warnings, international legal compensation for "victims" of
tobacco . . . and the list goes on.'

The letter adds, 'The WHO may have a proper role in informing existing and
potential smokers around the world that smoking is harmful and arguably it
should establish labelling standards for tobacco packaging. But it
undermines the sovereignty of nations when it tries to harmonise tax rates.
The FTCT draft says it will "eradicate smuggling". This is more than a bold
claim: it is impossible. But in attempting to do so, international
bureaucrats are in for boom times.'

Letters can be sent to the Financial Times by email: letters.editor@ft.com
or by Fax: 020 7873 3194
Source: Financial Times, 25 October 2000

'Vodka and smoking lay Russians low'

The Guardian reports that, 'The health of Russians is getting worse, experts
said yesterday. Interfax news agency quoted Oleg Shchepin of the Russian
Academy of Medical Sciences as referring to "a national catastrophe". He was
speaking at a health ministry meeting called to discuss the decline seen in
the last year. Mr Shchepin said overall life expectancy fell by one year in
1999 to 65.5 years, an average age of 59.8 for men and 72 for women. The
general level of illness had risen 15%. The death rate was 14.7 people per
1,000 while the birth rate stood at 8.4 per 1,000, Mr Shchepin said. The
official 1998 figures were 13.6 and 8.8 respectively.'
The article adds, 'Andrei Vorobyev, a haematologist, was quoted as saying at
the meeting that two of the main reasons for the worsening figures were
smoking and vodka, which resulted in more cancer cases, heart problems and
death from accidents.


Source: The Guardian, 25 October 2000
Link:
http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,387469,00.html