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ASH Daily news for 18 August 2010

HEADLINES

  • Smoking ban in cars carrying children backed by majority of public

    Three-quarters of Britons want smoking in cars carrying children to be banned, according to a poll.

    Many doctors already support such a ban. Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, last week caused controversy when he said that parents who smoked in front of their young children were "committing a form of child abuse".

    A YouGov poll for the UK Faculty of Public Health (FPH) found 74% support for banning anyone from smoking in a car in which children are on board, with 10% against and 11% undecided. The faculty, which represents public health specialists in the NHS, academia and local government, said that although politicians may be concerned about legislating to curb behaviour in "private space", adherence to seatbelt laws shows people would accept it. Second-hand smoke can be 27 times more toxic in a car than a smoker's home, it says in a report published today.

    "There's a wealth of medical and public backing for a ban on smoking in cars with children," said Rachael Jolley, the FPH's head of policy. "Attitudes to smoking have changed dramatically."

    Professor Mitch Blair from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said: "We strongly support the call to ban smoking in cars with children travelling in them to ensure that we protect their health. The public is sending out a strong message in this survey and the government should act on this."

    Inhaling secondhand smoke has been linked to chest infections, asthma and ear problems in children and sudden infant death syndrome, or cot death, he added.

    However, the government has made clear it will not be implementing any further restrictions on smoking and is considering not enforcing Labour's ban on the public display of cigarettes in shops.

    Large majorities of the public also favour other dramatic government moves to improve health, the poll found. Some 82% want the makers of alcoholic drinks to be compelled to list how many units and calories their products contain on the side of every can and bottle, while 78% favour all food manufacturers having to put traffic light-style labels on the packaging to tell people how much far, salt and sugar they contain.

    The health secretary, Andrew Lansley, is opposed to such labelling, which is used by some supermarkets. He said: "We need a more effective public health strategy which provides better information and support to the public with new national and local strategies to encourage changes in behaviour. This will reduce the drivers of ill health, including smoking, alcohol misuse, poor diet and lack of exercise."

    The Department of Health said: "Most people know about the dangers of passive smoking, particularly with regards to children. It is important parents take responsibility for their children's health."

    Source: The Guardian, 18 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/a1HSjt

  • Under-18 ban 'cut teenage smoking rates'

    Teenage smoking rates in England have dropped since the legal age for buying cigarettes rose from 16 to 18, research by University College London suggests.

    Researchers surveyed more than 1,000 teenagers aged 16 and 17 before and after the age rise in October 2007.

    Smoking rates in this age group dropped significantly, from 24% before the law change to about 17% after it. Smoking rates in over 18s remained unchanged.

    Cancer Research UK said it showed tobacco policy could make a difference.

    Experts know that more than 80% of smokers start before the age of 19 and that half of all long-term smokers will die of cancer or other smoking-related diseases.

    Stopping young people from starting smoking is vital if the death toll from tobacco is to be reduced, they say in the journal Addiction.

    Jenny Fidler, who led the study and is based at Cancer Research UK's health behaviour research centre at University College London, said: "The new law looks to have helped reduce smoking prevalence among younger age groups.

    "This is good news for the future health of this generation of young people and shows that tobacco policies can make a real difference."

    Before 2007 it was legal to sell cigarettes to anyone over the age of 16 in England, Scotland or Wales. The same was true in Northern Ireland until 2008.

    Jean King, Cancer Research UK's director of tobacco control, said: "This result is encouraging. We would like to have seen an even bigger drop in the number of young smokers but any measure that helps stops young people from smoking is a step in the right direction.

    "We need to do more to protect young people. We urge the government to prevent more lives being lost to an addiction that will kill half of all long term smokers."

    She said putting tobacco out of sight in shops and removing cigarette vending machines would be a good place to start.

    A Department of Health spokesman said they were in discussions across government on how best to progress to tackle smoking.

    He added: "We welcome these findings as nearly all adults who smoke get hooked when they are young. Smoking is the biggest preventable cause of death in England, causing over 80,000 premature deaths in England each year."

    Source: BBC News, 18 August 2010
    Link: http://bbc.in/9Tc2ko

  • Bournemouth man 'fell asleep with cigarette'

    A man who died in a fire in a block of flats in Dorset had fallen asleep while smoking a cigarette, the fire service has said.

    Crews were called to a small fire in the ground floor flat in Stourwood Avenue, Springbourne, Bournemouth, in the early hours of Saturday.

    They discovered the occupant already dead inside.

    Mike Cox, a fire investigation officer, said "the gentleman had apparently been smoking and had... fallen asleep".

    He added: "As a fire service, we can't say 'don't smoke' but we can say 'if you're going to smoke, please, please ensure that everything is extinguished into a suitable container before you go to bed or fall asleep'.

    "In this case, the gentleman had apparently been smoking and had, we think, fallen asleep while it was still alight.

    "It is such a sad loss of life and can be easily prevented with just a few seconds worth of preventative action.

    "Residents were evacuating when we arrived, which is exactly the right thing to do.

    "Smoke alarms are an early warning system and hardwired detectors [which were in the flat] are especially efficient.

    "However, if the occupants are unable to respond to the alarms as in this case, if the fire is on or about their person, the best advice is still, and always will be to put it out - right out."

    Source: BBC News, 17 August 2010
    Link: http://bbc.in/cSR8tf

  • Chertsey smuggler must pay up or face more jail

    A Chertsey man, who was jailed for his part in a £12.5 million cigarette smuggling scam, has been ordered to pay back more than £600,000 or face more time behind bars.

    John David Wright of St Ann’s Hill Road, Chertsey was found guilty and sentenced to six years imprisonment on 24 January 2008, for his part in the smuggling of over 85 tonnes of hand rolling tobacco (HRT) into the UK since July 2006 and evading duty of £12.5 million.

    The 44-year-old has been ordered to payback £636,211.70 from the proceeds of his crimes within six months or serve four years in prison following a hearing at Hove Crown Court.

    If he fails to pay the money the four years will be added to the sentence he is currently serving and he will still owe the money even if he serves the extra years.

    Along with Andrew Green, 46, of West End, Woking, Wright was responsible for smuggling 85 Tonnes of illicit tobacco into the UK. That equated to 1.7 million 50g pouches of tobacco with the excise duty stolen by Wright totalling £12.5 Million.

    A spokesman for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said this money could have been made available for vital public services including schools, hospitals and provision of care for the elderly and vulnerable.

    The HMRC has now moved to act against what it sees as Wright's profits from these crimes and has also scheduled a hearing for later this month for his associate Green. At the original hearing two years ago the court heard how Customs officers disrupted a large scale importation of tobacco and cigarettes from Europe to the UK by a Surrey-based organisation headed by John David Wright.

    The importations were carried out on behalf of a company called Davis Freight, also known as Davis Transport. John Wright controlled this company.

    The tobacco was packed in sealed plastic crates and described as either Belgium Post or Belgium chocolates.

    Source: Surrey Herald, 16 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/960ybR

  • Canada: Smokers occupy one-third of hospital beds: study

    A study commissioned by the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control suggests that smokers are taking up beds and costing the Quebec health-care system millions a year.

    Researchers found that those who smoke, or used to smoke heavily, occupy 32.6 per cent of hospital beds in the province. The report concludes that caring for smokers in hospital costs Quebec's health-care system $930 million a year.

    "Quebec is certainly lagging behind other provinces, and behind measures taken by the United States when it comes to efforts to curb smoking," said Pierre-Yves Crémieux, a University of Quebec in Montreal economics professor and one of the study's co-authors.

    Crémieux said Quebec is behind despite recent efforts to regulate and reduce smoking.

    Dr. Gaston Ostiguy, a physician at the Montreal Chest Institute, said most of the patients he sees started smoking a long time ago.

    "What we see at the moment, is that we are facing the hard-core smokers," said Ostiguy, who tells four people a day that they have lung cancer.

    Ostiguy said he hoped the study would force the province to do more to discourage young people from picking up smoking.

    While provincial health officials are not promising any immediate changes in light of the study, the ministry acknowledged that tobacco-related illnesses are taking their toll on the system.

    The Health Ministry is preparing to file a multibillion-dollar class-action lawsuit against the tobacco industry to recuperate some of its losses.

    Officials are also looking into stronger anti-smoking legislation in the fall, including banning smoking in cars when children are around.

    Source: CBC News, 16 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9ZQMvj

  • Smoking in China as serious as SARS

    The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in China said Tuesday widespread smoking in the Asian nation should be given the same attention as an outbreak of the deadly SARS disease.

    Timed to coincide with the release of new data on adult tobacco use in China by the country's centre for disease control, Michael O'Leary said the Asian nation's widespread tobacco addiction was a worry.

    "China's longstanding high prevalence of tobacco addiction deserves the same level of concern as an outbreak of SARS or H1N1," he said.

    "Chronic conditions now constitute the lion's share of the burden of disease in China, and tobacco use is the single largest preventable cause of death and disease."

    According to the WHO, the data showed that more than half of men in China smoked, and that a total of 301 million adults currently puffed on cigarettes - a drop from the previous figure of 350 million.

    A total of 13,354 people across China took part in the survey from October last year to May 2010 which also revealed that 70 per cent of non-smoking adults were exposed to secondhand smoke in a typical week.

    China is the world's biggest consumer of tobacco, and up to one million people in the country die every year from lung cancer or cardiovascular diseases directly linked to smoking.

    Authorities have pledged to ban smoking in all indoor, public places by next year, but activists and experts have raised doubts that the rules can be implemented in a country where law enforcement is weak.

    In an indication of the extent of the problem, 56.8 per cent of all male doctors in China smoke and some hospitals are not tobacco-free, state media reported earlier this year.

    China's centre for disease control was not immediately available for comment.

    Source: WA Today, 17 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bZzwkh