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ASH News and Events Bulletin - 01-15 August 2010

HEADLINES

EVENTS

  • Plain cigarette pack row takes centre stage in Australian election

    Australia's plans to ban branded cigarette packs have taken a central role in the country's general election campaign after an alliance of small shopkeepers launched an advertising campaign against the move.

    The Alliance of Australian Retailers (AAR), which represents both newsagents and service station owners, has [...] placed a series of ads in the Australian press to contest the plans.

    The campaign, which is being funded by the major tobacco producers, argues that the ban on all branding on cigarette packs would hurt small businesses and lead to job losses.

    It comes as Australians plan to go to the polls in a general election on 21 August. While the ads are, according to reports, critical of the ruling Labor party, the opposition Liberal Party’s leader Tony Abbott has told the Australian press that he would consider going ahead with the plain-pack plans if he wins the election.

    Australia’s former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced the proposed ban, which would come into force in July 2012, back in April.

    Sheryle Moon, who set up the AAR just two weeks ago, has denied that the campaign is politically motivated.

    She told ABC News: "Plain packaging is not a proven policy," she said. "There's no credible evidence that this policy will stop people smoking, that it will stop kids, young people, taking up cigarette smoking. It will just make it more difficult for retailers to do their business."

    Source: Packaging News - 05 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/atWd6V

  • Top GP condemns Britons for recklessly neglecting their health

    Britain's top GP [has] launche[d] a scathing attack on widespread reckless public behaviour towards food, alcohol and cigarettes, which he claims is causing growing levels of disease and early death.

    In a dramatic intervention in the public health debate, Professor Steve Field criticises parents, mothers-to-be, the very overweight, smokers and drinkers for damaging their own health, or their children's, through irresponsible actions.

    Writing in [the] Observer, Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, backs the controversial call by Andrew Lansley, the health secretary, for Britons to take more responsibility for protecting their health. "The truth is that too many of us neglect our health, and this is leading to increasing levels of illness and early death," Field writes. Soaring levels of diabetes, much of it caused by obesity, and the medical consequences of heavy drinking, which are affecting ever-younger people, illustrate this widespread failure, he adds.

    Discussion of the harmful medical consequences of ill-advised personal behaviour is curtailed because of its sensitivity, Field argues. "Too many people do not face up to the hard facts, as they perceive them to be an attack aimed, in particular, at the poorer members of society. But it is impossible to argue on medical or ethical grounds that such behaviour is acceptable."

    While arguing for health prevention to become an individual duty and start at home, Field makes it clear that he does not want people to be left to make lifestyle changes on their own or to see personal responsibility as a total solution. Those who seek to alter their behaviour need continuing NHS and government help, he adds. "So please don't take offence if we [GPs] tell you to lose weight or stop smoking or drinking. You need to face facts and take responsibility. Support is out there and it could save your life – and save the NHS a fortune."

    Anne Milton, the public health minister, said greater personal responsibility was vital. Many senior doctors also agreed, but stressed that government action was needed to help create a climate in which people could swap healthy for unhealthy behaviour, such as by monitoring big food companies. Lansley has alarmed senior doctors by saying the coalition will use much less regulation than Labour did to tackle problems such as obesity and smoking.

    GPs seek to help people live healthy lives "but every day we are confronted by the harm caused by smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and the 'tsunami' of obesity", adds Field, the leader of the country's 40,000 GPs.

    Irresponsible parents are damaging their children's health by smoking around them, feeding them unhealthy food and failing to act as good role models, he says. Mothers and fathers who smoke in cars carrying their offspring – who Field says "are committing a form of child abuse" – and at home in front of their children kill more young people than do accidental injuries.

    Agreeing with Field, Milton said: "We need a new public health movement, owned by everyone, for everyone's benefit. A movement that transforms the way in which the public's health is improved, but also revolutionises the way we think about it. As Field points out, personal responsibility is a key part of this."

    However, Milton added: "The government recognises that it cannot force people into behaving in a certain way. But we can help people make informed decisions and ensure that they are enabled and supported to make healthy choices."

    Professor Terence Stephenson, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, agreed some parents let down their children. "Of course paediatricians agree that people should take responsibility for their own lives. But young children cannot do that. What they eat and the environment they live in are determined by their parents. There is a role for society to protect young children from promotion of unhealthy foods and passive smoking. Would all parents strap young children into a car seat if it was left to choice rather than law?"

    Dr John Middleton, vice-president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, said: "A significant amount of ill-health is due to people's lack of personal responsibility. The NHS would have fewer burdens on it if people were more physically active, cut their alcohol consumption and ate a lower-fat, lower-sugar diet. The government and the NHS cannot do everything. But someone trying to give up smoking will find it easier if they get counselling and nicotine replacement therapy on the NHS, for instance."

    The government had a key role to play in promoting health, as shown by its crackdown on smoking and its fluoridisation of water supplies, said Professor Dinesh Bhugra, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. People who insisted on smoking despite all the warnings about it should retain their freedom to do so, he added.

    Read Dr Field's full opinion piece here. The readers' letters responding to the opinion are here.


    Source: The Observer, 08 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/95W8Vz

  • Kenya: Abandoning tobacco farming for aquaculture

    Sam Robi sprinkles feed on a pond and after a while, a school of fish scramble for it.

    He repeats the same procedure in four out of eight fishponds at his farm in Kuria West District.
    Besides the fingerlings, there are the bigger fish especially Tilapia, which he sells in the local market.

    The cost of a piece of Tilapia in Kehancha market is Sh80. One pond, he said contains 200 tilapia and before December, he is optimistic of earning over Sh100,000 from the sale.

    As the leading supplier of fingerlings within the district, he also sells each at Sh5 and in numerous occasions, he has sold up to 3,000 fingerlings. In a single pond, he grows over 1,000 fingerlings.
    “This is a constant source of income, which I could not realise from tobacco growing, which I abandoned in 2003 and embraced fish farming,” he said.

    Losses from tobacco

    This came after he realised that the losses incurred from tobacco growing were a curse rather than a blessing.“The cost of fertiliser, herbicide and the felling of trees to dry tobacco leaves was slowly depleting the trees on my farm,” he said.

    Besides this, he had to be on the farm all the time, which often required additional labour— he had to withdraw his children from school to work on the farm.

    labour intensive

    “Unlike tobacco farming, fish farming is not labour intensive. I need to feed them and maintain the pond,” said Robi.

    The fish mature fast and ensure a steady supply to the market. One has to wait for ten months to realise the profits from tobacco.

    Tobacco growing areas are also linked to the higher incidences of tobacco related diseases like cancer.

    Mr Robi said he started fishfarming with Sh1,500 capital.“I dug a pond and sought the help of a government officer to supply me with the fingerlings. But after waiting for over one year, the fingerlings were yet to arrive at my farm,” he said.

    It is then ActionAid, a non-government organisation working to alleviate poverty realised the need to supply him with 600 fingerlings for his three ponds so as to win him over from tobacco growing.
    Fish is a key nutrient for the growth and development of children and with his family he is able to net one at any given moment.

    During drought he, however, experiences shortage of the commodity as fish survives in water. 

    Source: The Standard - 09 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/aA9iZQ

  • China struggles with WHO anti-tobacco treaty

    At least 1 million people in China die every year from the impacts of smoking, but what is being done to reduce this?

    As well as ensuring that all indoor public places, workplaces and public transport are smoke-free within five years, the WHO agreement requires countries to fight smoking. This should be done by raising cigarette prices and taxes, implementing health warnings on cigarette packs and banning tobacco advertising.

    Whilst many other countries have successfully managed the anti-tobacco treaty backed by the World Health Organization, China appears to be struggling to meet banning smoking at public indoor venues by January 9th next year.

    However, despite their struggles with hitting their deadline, they have had some success over the past few years. China has banned tobacco advertising on radio, television and newspapers and outlawed smoking in some places, such as on airplanes. Also during the 2008 Olympics, Beijing and other host cities in China went smokefree.

    Despite all of these successes, the rate of smoking has not changed significantly and tobacco production has actually gone up. A projection by Oxford University professor Sir Richard Peto, shows that of the young Chinese men alive today, one in three will die from tobacco.

    Critics say that this is because China falls short of WHO agreement's requirements. They believe that warnings on Chinese cigarette packages are too small and tobacco tax increases are never passed down to smokers, but instead absorbed by the company.

    Source: European Lung Foundation, 11 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bkKasX

  • No smoking in school: China fights against tobacco

    In China, tobacco companies sponsor schools. Almost half of all male doctors smoke. And one wedding dinner ritual involves the bride lighting cigarettes for each of her male guests.

    China has committed to banning smoking at public indoor venues by Jan. 9 next year, in accordance with a global anti-tobacco treaty backed by the World Health Organization. But smoking is such a way of life that China is unlikely to meet the deadline, and even the government seems resigned to failure.

    "There are only some months left," said Jiang Yuan, deputy director of the National Office of Tobacco Control. "And I feel that it is extremely difficult to reach that goal...China is facing a tremendous challenge in tobacco control."

    Smoking is linked to the deaths of at least 1 million people in China every year. The WHO cites a projection by Oxford University professor Sir Richard Peto that of the young Chinese men alive today, one in three will die from tobacco.

    "You're talking about one in three of the Tsinghua University male graduates, one in three of the male CEOs of high-tech businesses, one in three engineers, one in three scientists, one in three policymakers and military leaders," said Dr. Sarah England, who runs the WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative in China. "It becomes a question of national interest."

    Over the past several years, China has banned tobacco advertising on radio, television and newspapers and outlawed smoking in some places, such as on airplanes. During the 2008 Olympics, Beijing and other host cities in China went smoke-free.

    In recent months, China banned smoking at pavilions and restaurants in the Shanghai Expo, as well as the Health Ministry's own 19-story office building in Beijing — the first central government agency to prohibit puffing indoors. Weeks ago, authorities also instructed kindergartens and elementary, secondary and vocational schools to ban smoking on campus and bar teachers from lighting up in front of students.

    But health authorities are still losing the fight against a habit that has wafted into nearly every corner of society, backed by a powerful state-owned tobacco monopoly. The rate of smoking has not changed significantly, and tobacco production has actually gone up.

    Earlier this year, the Chinese media buzzed with reports of a 3-year-old girl hooked on smoking. Photos posted on the Internet showed round-cheeked Xing Yawen sitting on a chair taking a drag from a cigarette.

    The child's mother said Yawen started smoking possibly due to trauma after being hit by a truck in February last year. "In the past, we worked too hard and maybe we neglected her," 33-year-old Gao Shuli said by phone. "The child is too small and knows nothing, but smoking will affect her entire future."

    The WHO agreement requires countries to fight smoking through measures that include raising cigarette prices and taxes, mandating health warnings on cigarette packs and banning tobacco advertising. Parties are also expected to ensure that all indoor public places, workplaces and public transport are smoke-free within five years of the treaty coming into force — which in China's case was on Jan. 9, 2006.

    Parties must periodically report to one another on their efforts, and China is due to do so in January. Nearly 170 countries are signatories to the treaty, including the United States, although it has not yet ratified it.

    Making public spaces smoke-free is a challenge for many countries — only 17 have policies that provide effective protection from secondhand smoke, the WHO says, including New Zealand, Colombia, the United Kingdom and Iran. In China, cigarettes are handed out as gifts to family and bribes to officials. Even in large cities like Beijing, people light up in bars and restaurants, elevators, hotel lobbies and government buildings.

    Forty percent of civil servants recently surveyed in eastern Jiangsu province smoke, lighting an average of 12.4 cigarettes a day. And all but 5 percent do so at work, according to the provincial center for disease control and prevention. Meanwhile, nearly half of male doctors in China smoke, according to Jiang, who conducted a recent study in 31 provinces and cities.

    "The biggest obstacle is the lack of awareness," Jiang said. "If people realize passive smoking will also cause lung cancer, will they still allow people around them to smoke?"

    There is also an apparent conflict of interest: China's State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, which sets tobacco policy and enforces rules, is the same federal agency that controls the China National Tobacco Corp. — the world's largest cigarette maker.

    One result of this paradox is that control efforts are piecemeal. Warnings on Chinese cigarette packages are in tiny characters and take up only a third of the design — which critics say falls short of the WHO agreement's requirements. Tobacco tax increases are absorbed by companies and never passed down to smokers.

    "The tobacco industry has traditionally been central within government and really very important," said Judith Mackay, a World Lung Foundation senior policy adviser. "It's a really serious problem."

    The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration did not respond to a request for comment. Mackay says its position has always focused on the possible economic impact of raising cigarette taxes, arguing that it would reduce revenue to the government and put tobacco farmers out of work.

    Many experts say otherwise. Raising the tax on a pack of cigarettes by 1 yuan ($0.15) would increase the Chinese government's revenue by $17 billion and reduce the number of smokers by 3.4 million, according to a study led by Teh-wei Hu, professor emeritus in health economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

    China National Tobacco Corp.'s general manager Jiang Chengkang said in January that the company made 513 billion yuan ($76 billion) in profit and taxes last year, a 12 percent increase over the previous year. Tobacco companies say school sponsorship is their way of giving back to society.

    In celebration of Children's Day in June, students from an elementary school sponsored by the famous Hongta cigarette company were taken on a tour of a cigarette-rolling factory in northeastern Shenyang, according to a report on TobaccoChina Online, a website catering to the tobacco industry. Prominently displayed on the grounds of another such school is the slogan: "Talent stems from hard work, tobacco helps you become accomplished."

    Source: Google/Associated Press - 09 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9w1Z09

  • Swiss Indoors Tennis Tournament forced to drop tobacco sponsor

    One of world sport's last tobacco sponsorships is ending, at the Swiss Indoors tennis event in Roger Federer's hometown of Basel.

    Tournament organizers say the 2010 event in November is the last of a 17-year partnership with tobacco brand Davidoff.

    Swiss Indoors said in a statement that the ATP World Tour told the tournament in June the existing sponsorship could not be extended because of worldwide laws restricting tobacco advertising on television.

    The tournament was promoted in status last year to an ATP 500 event, giving the [ATP] central control over TV rights.

    The 2009 Swiss Indoors was broadcast in 150 countries and had a six-fold increase in ratings, but the sponsor's name was dropped during transmissions.

    Source: The Associated Press, 11 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/cZwhtI

  • McDonald's in Japan to phase out smoking areas as smokers decrease at record rates

    McDonald's Japan, the largest restaurant chain in the country, with over 3,500 stores, has announced it will phase out smoking as it begins to revamp or replace 1,050 of its outlets. For local residents of Tokyo the annoyance of unclearly marked smoking zones in many cafes and restuarants, or non-smoking areas separated only by demarcations on the floor, it will come as a welcome relief.

    Non-smoking areas have become increasingly common in Tokyo in recent years, with bans on streets around many train stations and an increasing number of smokers-only areas popping up around the city. Chiyoda ward in Tokyo even has a patrol that can fine offenders, while a series of advertisements called Smoker's Style has been on display on many train lines sporadically throughout the last few years teaching courtesy to non-smokers.

    A report yesterday by Medical News revealed that Japan has in fact set a world record of 15 consecutive years of a declining percentage of the population considering themselves to be smokers. Japan Tobacco reports that in 1966 when records began, 49.4 percent of the population were smokers, while today it is 23.9 percent.

    Source: CNN Go - 12 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9Z5Ny6

  • BBC Radio 4: Hearts and Lungs

    BBC Radio 4 broadcast the programme The Battle for Hearts and Lungs last night and will be repeated on BBC World Service on 27th August, 9.05am (UK time).

    Sue Armstrong investigates the growing pressure on developing countries as tobacco companies battle for the hearts and lungs of new smokers. At the same time poorer countries such as Malawi are becoming increasingly dependent on tobacco as a cash crop.

    The programme examines Malawi's growing dependency on tobacco. Although the government has tried to introduce minimum prices, small farmers hardly cover their costs and continue to live on less than a dollar a day.

    Click here to listen to the programme on BBC iPlayer (UK only). The programme may become available for download as a podcast from the BBC world service website after transmission.

    Source:
    Link: http://bit.ly/bzQc0w

  • Co-op store's u-turn on cigarettes display

    A north[ern] Co-op store has been forced to axe a controversial cigarette vending system over fears it would tempt youngsters to light up.

    Customers could use the machine after buying special vouchers which were prominently displayed at the tills of the supermarket in Wrekenton, Gateshead.

    Colourful point-of-sale merchandise flies in the face of current guidelines, which require retailers to behave responsibly by placing tobacco products and advertising material in less prominent locations.

    The Wrekenton store was the only one in the North East chosen to trial the Vend-Safe system, which at the very least exploits a loophole in current legislation. But the Co-op has now withdrawn it amid concerns that it may breach advertising regulations following a probe by Trading Standards officers and the involvement of the Sunday Sun.

    Concerned parents were worried the striking vouchers would encourage children in the area – which has some of the highest underage smoking rates in the country – to light up.

    Father-of-one Graham Martin, 57, who lives near the store, said he was pleased the Co-op had seen sense.

    He said: “I went into the store with my 13-year-old daughter and was horrified to see cigarettes and tobacco products blatantly displayed right at the point where families pass the till.
    “They were making cigarettes more visible and more available and I think that was extremely irresponsible.

    “I’m happy the cards are no longer there. Children can become addicted and have a lifetime of health problems from just one cigarette.

    “For a large company with a reputation for ethical trading to get itself in this position was bizarre, but I’m happy they have admitted their error and corrected it.”

    Tobacco advertising was banned in the UK in 2003, because of evidence that it encouraged young people to take up smoking.

    But the industry tried to get around the restrictions by increasing the size and scale of shop displays.

    Parliament responded by setting limits to how shops can advertise cigarettes, and by proposing legislation to put tobacco out of sight in shops altogether from 2011 onwards.

    Ailsa Rutter, director of Fresh, the North East’s anti-smoking lobby group, said: “There is massive public concern about protecting children from anything that encourages them to start smoking.

    “Eight out of 10 smokers start as children or in their teens, with the vast majority bitterly regretting it.

    “Cigarette displays in shops have got larger and more colourful since advertising was banned.

    “They’re often the most brightly lit, glamorous part of the shop, creating a forbidden fruit effect in the minds of young people.”

    Gateshead Council said the Wrekenton store was an example of a shop pushing the limits too far.

    Before the Co-op display was pulled, a leading North lung specialist described it as “a big backward step” in an area with worryingly high smoking rates. Dr Robert Allcock, a consultant chest physician at Gateshead’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said: “Gateshead is certainly in the top 10 of all the Primary Care areas in the country for lung cancer and chronic pulmonary lung disease.

    A spokeswoman for The Co-operative Group said: “We are currently trialling the vend-safe system in the Wrekenton store on a number of high-value products, but have removed cigarettes from the trial following the concern raised and a review of the system.”

    She added that the cigarette vending system had been removed from six other UK stores on advice from Trading Standards.

    Source: The Sunday Sun - 08 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bJJatv

  • ACS launches postcard campaign to end display ban

    The Association of Convenience Stores has launched a nationwide retailer campaign to try and overturn the tobacco display ban.

    The postcard campaign encourages retailers to lobby Health Secretary Andrew Lansley to end the legislation which would force retailers to cover their tobacco displays as the coalition government is currently discussing whether to revoke the legislation.

    ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “The tobacco display ban is a policy which will significantly impact all local retailers.

    “Businesses will be forced to pay significant sums to comply with the legislation which could cost the sector up to £40 million.

    “While the primary justification for the display ban is to discourage youth smoking, there is strong evidence from countries that have already implemented the ban which shows that it does not impact on youth smoking rates.”

    He said in opposition, both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats recognised this lack of evidence and supported retailers' calls to scrap the measure.

    Postcards for retailers to send to the health secretary will be appearing in cash and carry depots across England from next week.

    Retailers will also be able to download the materials from the ACS website.

    Source: Off Licence News - 09 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bRzqy8

  • BAT Kenya to start producing semi-processed tobacco

    British American Tobacco Kenya Ltd., East Africa’s biggest cigarette maker, will start producing and exporting semi-processed tobacco this month, Managing Director Gary Fagan said.

    Output of semi-processed tobacco is expected to grow by as much as 70 percent next year, Fagan told reporters in the capital, Nairobi, today.

    The company has invested 350 million shillings ($4.37 million) in machinery for the new venture that is expected to have a three-year payback period.

    Sales are forecast to grow 6 percent in the second half of the financial year, he said.

    “Barring unforeseen eventualities we are optimistic that second-half performance will also be good,” he said.

    The company’s sales in the first half to June grew 6 percent to 10.9 billion shillings as market share expanded by 1.2 percent, he said.

    British American Tobacco Kenya shares climbed 2 shillings, or 0.8 percent, to 250 shillings as of 9:43 a.m. in Nairobi. A close at this price would be the highest since Jan. 12, 2007.

    Source: Bloomberg Businessweek, 03 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/a9U4fE

  • Australia: Big Tobacco slammed over ads

    The anti-plain packaging campaign has seen its main backer withdraw and its ads receive legal criticism.

    Transcript [of the ABC broadcast:]
    LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: The credibility of big tobacco's campaign to stop the introduction of plain packaging of cigarettes in 2012 has been dealt a fresh blow.

    Last week Lateline revealed the existence of the reported $5 million advertising fund set up behind an alliance of retail groups.

    Today the campaign's public face, Sheryle Moon, was replaced after her association of convenience stores abruptly withdrew support for the alliance.

    The collapse of alliance unity did not stop the launch of big tobacco's television advertising blitz on commercial networks tonight.

    TV ADVERTISEMENT (male voiceover): Plain packaging: it won't work, so why do it?

    LEIGH SALES: Advocates of plain packaging for cigarettes are taking the ad-makers to task, after receiving a legal opinion that the media campaign is deceptive.

    MIKE DAUBE, PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA: And it may well be that the first step is to take it to the ACCC, and - because if they can make an early determination that'll be good, if not, then we'll have to see if there are injunctions that are appropriate.

    I would hope that the ACCC would be able to take early action on what does appear to be misleading and deceptive advertising.
     

    Source: ABC - 11 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/dynsUt

  • Impact on smoking initiation of PoS and retail advertising

    Abstract

    Objectives Accumulating evidence suggests that widespread advertising for cigarettes at the point of sale encourages adolescents to smoke; however, no longitudinal study of exposure to retail tobacco advertising and smoking behavior has been reported.

    Methods A school-based survey included 1681 adolescents (aged 11–14 years) who had never smoked. One measure of exposure assessed the frequency of visiting types of stores that contain the most cigarette advertising. A more detailed measure combined data about visiting stores near school with observations of cigarette advertisements and pack displays in those stores. Follow-up surveys 12 and 30 months after baseline (retention rate: 81%) documented the transition from never to ever smoking, even just a puff.

    Results After 12 months, 18% of adolescents initiated smoking, but the incidence was 29% among students who visited convenience, liquor, or small grocery stores at least twice per week and 9% among those who reported the lowest visit frequency (less than twice per month). Adjusting for multiple risk factors, the odds of initiation remained significantly higher (odds ratio: 1.64 [95% confidence interval: 1.06–2.55]) for adolescents who reported moderate visit frequency (0.5–1.9 visits per week), and the odds of initiation more than doubled for those who visited 2 times per week (odds ratio: 2.58 [95% confidence interval: 1.68–3.97]). Similar associations were observed for the more detailed exposure measure and persisted at 30 months.

    Conclusions Exposure to retail cigarette advertising is a risk factor for smoking initiation. Policies and parenting practices that limit adolescents' exposure to retail cigarette advertising could improve smoking prevention efforts.

    Henriksen, L. et al. A Longitudinal Study of Exposure to Retail Cigarette Advertising and Smoking Initiation. Pediatrics. Published online 19 July 2010

    see also: Point-of-sale advertising major cause of teen smoking, study shows

    Source: Pediatrics - 19 July 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bl9h2U

  • Support for banning smoking in cars

    Abstract

    Background: Since 2006, banning smoking in cars with children has become a rapidly growing tobacco control policy. However, to date, there have been few studies examining support and correlates of support for car smoking bans, and none of the existing studies have been international in nature. We conducted such a study among smokers in four countries.

    Methods: 6716 adult current smokers from the 2007 Wave of the International Tobacco Control Four Country Survey, a nationally representative, longitudinal cohort telephone survey of smokers in the USA, Canada, UK and Australia. Controlling for demographics, heaviness of smoking, smoking health knowledge/beliefs and quit intentions, we compared support and correlates of support for banning smoking in cars with children across the four countries.

    Results: The majority of smokers supported banning smoking in cars with children. Support was highest in Australia (83%), followed by the UK (75%) and Canada (74%); support was lower-but still high-in the USA (60%). Support was highest among smokers who: had stronger quit intentions, were lighter smokers, had lower education, had no children in the home, believed that cigarette smoke is dangerous to non-smokers and could cause asthma in children, and were concerned about modelling smoking to children.

    Conclusions: These findings indicate that a majority of smokers in the four countries support banning smoking in cars with children, and lend support to banning smoking in cars with children. Additionally, they suggest that support may be increased by educating smokers about the dangers of cigarette smoke exposure.

    Hitchman, SC. et al. Support and correlates of support for banning smoking in cars with children: findings from the ITC Four Country Survey. European Journal of Public Health. 14 July 2010. [Epub ahead of print]

    Source: Oxford Journals - 14 July 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bKE580

  • Recording of smoking status when registering with GP

    Abstract

    Background: The process of registering new patients in primary care provides an ideal opportunity to assess their smoking status systematically and record this in electronic medical records; this identification then allows smokers to be targeted with effective cessation interventions.

    Objectives: To use a dataset of electronic primary care medical records to assess the extent to which primary care patients' smoking status is recorded in their electronic records at the time of their registering with a new GP.

    Methods: Patients who registered with a general practice contributing data to The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database each year between 1990 and 2006 were identified, and their electronic medical records examined to identify the date on which their smoking status was first recorded.

    Results: In total, 74.2% of adults registering with a new GP in 1990 failed to have their smoking status recorded in their electronic medical records within 90 days of registration, improving to 26.7% of adults registering in 2006.

    Conclusions: That over one-quarter of adults registering with a THIN practice in 2006 did not have their smoking status recorded at registration represents substantial missed opportunities for identifying smokers and also, potentially, for offering them support to quit.

    Szatkowski, L. et al. Is smoking status routinely recorded when patients register with a new GP? Family Practice Advance Access published online on July 11, 2010

    Source: Oxford Journals - 11 July 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/by61OG

  • RIP cigarettes use in Ontario

    Abstract

    This study examined the degree to which legislation intended to reduce the incidence of cigarette-caused fires influenced the behaviours of a cohort of smokers in Ontario. A random digit dialled telephone survey of adult smokers residing in Ontario was conducted in 2005, ending 1 month prior to the reduced ignition propensity (RIP) regulation's implementation date. A follow-up survey was conducted one year later. Of the baseline participants, 73.0% (n=435) completed the follow-up survey. The frequency of fire risk behaviours was similar across both surveys. At baseline, only 3.7% of smokers interviewed reported that their cigarettes went out on their own 'often' while smoking. Following the implementation of the reduced ignition propensity legislation, this increased significantly to 14.7%. Results suggest that the proportion of Ontario smokers who reported engaging in behaviour such as leaving a cigarette burning unattended and smoking in bed actually declined, although these declines were not statistically significant across all measures of fire risk.
     

    O'Connor, RJ. et al, The impact of reduced ignition propensity cigarette regulation on smoking behaviour in a cohort of Ontario smokers Injury Prevention 19 July 2010 [Epub ahead of print]
     

    Source: British Medical Journal - 19 July 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/aFuMsH

Events

  • Personalisation and peer support – the mental health education and training agenda

    This conference – the 10th annual event of its kind – will explore the mental health education and training agenda for both personalisation and peer support. This will be done through:

    • Presentations on the key themes of personalisation and peer support

    • Workshops concentrating on examples of education and training initiatives in relation to personalisation and peer support.

    Date: 08 September 2010
    Venue: ORT House Conference Centre, London NW1
    Contact: www.pavpub.com/pavpub/conferences/showfull.asp?Conference=%20190

  • Health in Europe - Ready for the Future?

    Leading experts from business and industry, science and academia, patient organisations/NGOs as well as numerous prominent decision makers in health policy present new ideas and use the EHFG as a platform for the exchange of experiences and opinions at the international level.

    Date: 06 October 2010
    Venue: Gastein, Austria
    Contact: www.ehfg.org

  • Smoke Free Futures: Tobacco Control Conference 2010

    Smoke Free Futures is a two day tobacco control conference that asks what are the next steps we need to be taking to secure tobacco free futures for our children and how do we help the 70% of smokers who say they wish to quit more effectively in the here and now.

    Confirmed workshops and presentations at the Conference include:

    • No Smoking Day – Be the first to find out about NSD 2011
    • Young Tobacco Control Campaigners Tell their Stories
    • Understanding the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the Framework Convention Alliance
    • Evaluation of the Ireland Point of Sale Legislation
    • Development of a Tobacco Control Strategy for Wales

    Conference participants will have the opportunity to learn from the successes and challenges faced by successful tobacco control practitioners at this highly interactive conference.

    Date: 11 October 2010
    Venue: Mercure Holland House Hotel Cardiff, Wales
    Contact: www.smoking-conference-wales.org.uk

  • SCTRP Annual Update and Supervision Day

    The annual opportunity for SCTRP graduates to troubleshoot existing practice, update on research, and interact with over 100 practitioners.

    Tutors: P Hajek, R West, G Sutherland, H McRobbie and members of their teams.

    Cost: £235 (£200 plus VAT) Early Bird rate prior to course

    Availability: 100+

    Date: 03 December 2010
    Venue: Park Crescent Conference Centre, 229 Great Portland Street, London W1
    Contact: Janice Rossabi on +44 0208 347 0556 or sctrp@yahoo.co.uk

  • 5th European Conference on Tobacco or Health

     The conference programme will comprise three days of sessions. There are four main programme tracks:

    • Tobacco control policy measures;
    • Tobacco industry strategies and tactics
    • Tobacco treatment;
    • Health education & health communication.  
    Date: 28 March 2011
    Venue: Amsterdam
    Contact: www.ectoh.org