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ASH News and Events Bulletin - 01-15 May 2010

HEADLINES

EVENTS

  • Australia: Tobacco companies mint profits despite anti-smoking campaigns

    Reports claim that each year 4000 Victorians die of smoking-related conditions and a total of 750,000 Victorians still smoke.

    The anti smoking campaigns spread the message that the right to life is more important that the right to smoke. But the financials of the tobacco companies speak otherwise.

    In the wake of the announcement that the federal government has passed the legislation of plain packaging for the cigarette packs, tobacco companies are not happy.

    However, the anti smoking campaigners are celebrating. According to the anti smoking campaigners, the new legislation of plain packaging would discourage teenage smokers, who are more likely to view a cigarette smoking as a mark of status symbol.

    In spite of the measures taken by the government to inhibit smoking, the companies continue to mint huge amounts of money.

    Ban on smoking in bars, restaurants and the workplace and the levying of heavy duties on tobacco products have made it difficult and more expensive to smoke.

    Though the measures are in place but the big continue to make big returns.

    Reports claim that the profit of tobacco giant Philip Morris and Imperial Tobacco grew by 20 per cent in Australia in 2009.

    The Australian branch of Philip Morris’s has shown a jump of more than $47 million in last year. The Moorabbin-based subsidiary made profits to the tune of $284 million and has shown its strongest growth in the two years.

    Riding high on the industry growths, smaller companies like Imperial Tobacco generated a profit of $22.7 million with the sales revenue touching $385 million.

    Source: TopNews - 09 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9s6QaC

  • Lebanon: Cigarette market accounts for 1.1% of GDP

    In its weekly issue, Byblos Bank’s Lebanon This Week reported that a study issued by the AUB Tobacco Control Research Group estimated the size of the Lebanese retail market for cigarettes at $437.3m in 2009. 

    Imported brands have a 79% market share and local brands account for the balance. It said Lebanon is a net importer of tobacco, with a trade deficit reaching $130m in 2008, as the country exports unprocessed tobacco leaves and imports manufactured tobacco products, mainly cigarettes.

    The study added that total tax revenues from tobacco reached $189m in 2008, including receipts from excise, customs, and value-added taxes. Further, there are approximately 450 licensed tobacco distributors and about 100,000 licensed retailers in the country.

    Source: iloubnan - 16 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bOrTxi

  • Nigeria: Court dismisses application of tobacco firms

    Justice Wada Abubakar Omar of a Kano State High Court has dismissed the application of three tobacco companies challenging, among other issues, the jurisdiction of the court to entertain a suit filed against them by the Attorney-General of the state.

    The International Tobacco Limited; British American Tobacco Plc and British American Tobacco Investment Limited refered to as the 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants respectively had, in separate notices of preliminary objections challenged the jurisdiction of the court and prayed for an order setting aside the writ of summons served on them on the ground that they were defective.

    The 2nd defendant hinged its objection on the failure of the plaintiff to obtain leave of the court prior to the writ of summons, non-compliance with the provisions of Sections 98 and 99 of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act Cap S 6 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and non-compliance with the provisions of Order 5 Rule 14 of the High Court of Kano State (Civil Procedure Rules 1988.

    BAT argued that the plaintiff erroneously relied upon Order 12 Rule 21 of the Kano State (Civil Procedure Rules 1988 which it claimed is inapplicable.But for the BAT Investment Limited, the order should be set aside because the Order granting leave to serve it the writ of summons was wrongly granted.In his ruling, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent in Kano yesterday, Justice Abubakar Omar dismissed all the application of the defendants.He said, "The application of the 2nd defendant as contained in its notice of preliminary objection is devoid of any merit and same is hereby dismissed.The 3rd defendant's application fails and is hereby dismissed.

    With the resolution of all the six issues for determination against the 4th defendant/applicant, the entire application of the 4th defendant/applicant fails and it is hereby dismissed."

    Source: All Africa - 10 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bCk3aL

  • US: Reynolds says to hike cigarette prices

    Reynolds American has said it will raise the price of all of its cigarette brands this year, possibly encouraged after taking a greater share of the US market in the first quarter. The company said its R.J. Reynolds Tobacco division will increase prices of brands such as Camel and Pall Mall by 8 cents to wholesalers, adding that distributors’ list prices for Carlton, Lucky Strike and other brands will climb by 33 cents a pack. 

    The increase comes into effect on 12 May, and comes days after a similar price hike by Philip Morris USA. Reynolds said the move coves more than 20 brands and varieties.

    The company saw its share of US smokers grow by 20bps to 27.9% last quarter, helped by strong sales of its Pall Mall brand.

    Source: KamCity - 10 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bUkGAm

  • USA: Tobacco giant targets tax-free cigarette sales

    Area stores unhappy with tax-free sales of cigarettes by the Oneida Indian Nation have found a powerful ally -- one of the world's largest tobacco companies.

    “The state loses revenue. Retailers lose sales. Their employees could even lose jobs. And it adds to the burden on hard-working taxpayers,” reads a recent full-page advertisement paid for by Altria Client Services on behalf of Philip Morris USA. The ad was published in various Upstate New York newspapers.

    The ad pictures large hands cradling sand, with grains falling between the fingers.

    Oneida Nation officials say they feel betrayed by the stance Philip Morris has taken - saying it's a reversal of the company's previous position, which in the past has provided racking and signage to SavOn and other Indian stores.

    “They were like a big brother almost, who has turned around and smacked us for some reason,” said Bob Hilburger, director of business development for the Oneida Indian Nation.

    Tobacco industry officials say the ads and the website, Enforce The Law - Collect The Tax Coalition, are not questioning the sovereignty of Indian nations such as the Oneidas, who have built a commercial empire in the western portion of Oneida County and in eastern Madison County, complete with a casino, hotels, restaurants and convenience stores.

    “It's really about the policy issue of tax collection,” said David Sutton, spokesman for Philip Morris USA. “It's about leveling the playing field.”

    There have been several similar coalitions formed throughout the years to peddle the same kind of message, said James Calvin, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores.

    Why does Calvin hope this one will have better results?

    For one, he said, the effort now has “the leadership and participation of Altria,” which sells close to half of U.S. cigarettes.

    Also, the state has a vested interest to collect these taxes now to close its potential $9 billion budget gap, Calvin said.

    The sale of untaxed cigarettes from Indians to non-Indians has been a longstanding issue - especially in Upstate New York.

    The initial promise to collect those taxes on Indian cigarettes was made by then-Gov. George Pataki, who pulled back from the measure in the 1990s after about 1,000 members of the Seneca Nation blocked the Thruway and other roads -- sometimes with burning tires.

    Gov. Eliot Spitzer campaigned for governor on the same promise, but backed away once in office, leaving a gap in the 2007-08 state budget.

    Now, Gov. David Paterson is giving collecting the revenue another shot, looking to enforce a law he signed in December 2008 in Utica.

    Recently proposed state regulations would limit the quantity of tax-free cigarettes that may legally be supplied to Indian nations or tribes.

    But the longer this tax goes uncollected, the more it is hindering local convenience stores, Calvin said.

    “You lose the sale of cigarettes, and you lose the sale of other products,” he said.

    Sutton said his company is looking out for the interests of such stores.

    “If you have one pool of retailers that we're obviously working with every day, and have another pool of retailers who are not colleting the tax, it's very difficult to compete,” he said.

    As for the Nation, it has already made the decision to downplay product placement of Philip Morris' Marlboro cigarettes in SavOn stores, Hilburger said.

    “Obviously you're not going to support someone to run expensive ads in the paper,” Hilburger said, adding of the advertisement, “It almost looked like a death notice. It was 85 percent black.”

    Source: uticaod.com - 02 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9MzMl2

  • Cancer: MEPs urge more detection and prevention

    With more than 3 million new cases and 1.7 million deaths each year, cancer is the second biggest cause of death in Europe. But one third of cancer cases could be prevented. The European Parliament wants EU governments and institutions to step up the fight against this disease. MEPs called on Thursday for further action to promote a healthy lifestyle and reduce environmental and workplace risk factors as well as demanding increased EU investment in information and screening campaigns.

    In a resolution drafted by Alojz Peterle (EPP, SI) and adopted on Thursday by show of hands, MEPs welcome the Commission proposal to set up a European Partnership for Action Against Cancer for the period 2009-2013 to support the Member States' efforts to tackle cancer. They believe particular efforts should be directed towards the new Member States. All Member States are urged to set up integrated cancer plans, to help achieve the Partnership’s long-term aim of reducing cancer by 15% by 2020.

    Prevention is the most cost-effective response, says the resolution, as one third of cancers are preventable. More resources should go into prevention, healthy lifestyles should be encouraged and "information campaigns on cancer screening" should be "directed at the general public and all healthcare providers".

    More support is needed for research into cancer prevention, including the effects of harmful chemicals and environmental pollutants, nutrition, lifestyle and genetic factors. The links between cancer and risk factors such as tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceutical and synthetic hormones should be investigated, says Parliament.

    Lastly, argue MEPs, cancer medicines, including treatments for rare and less common cancers, should be uniformly available to all patients who need them, and inequalities of access to cancer treatment and care must be reduced, including the new ‘targeted’ cancer drugs recently put on the market.

    Source: ParliamentToday - 06 May 2010
    Link: http://www.parliamenttoday.com

  • In Gujarat, 60% males are tobacco addicts

    In Gujarat, 60% males and 8.4% females are addicted to tobacco in one way or another. This shocking information was been revealed by the state health minister Jaynarayan Vyas, while launching the 'Smoking Free Gujarat, Golden Gujarat' campaign which aims to create awareness in the state about the ills of chewing and smoking tobacco.

    Vyas told the media:”Against the national average of 57% males, Gujarat has 60% of tobacco consuming males while against 11.2% national tobacco consuming women, Gujarat has 8.4%.

    “According to one survey done on students of 8 to 10 classes, 29.3% boys and 4.3% girls are taking one or another kind of tobacco. Non-smoking use of tobacco is also very high in the state. It has increased by 2.5 times. Earlier, the prevalence of cancer due to tobacco in the 20 to 30 age group, was almost zero. Now it is 5.5%. Prevalence of cancer in passive smokers is also going up.''

    Vyas said that, “many argue that non-smoking and non-users of tobacco also get cancer, but I would like to present these facts -- that out of the total male cancer patients, 56% are tobacco users while in women it is only 17.41%.Which itself shows tobacco's deadly effects.”

    The awareness programme will be functional in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar districts.

    Source: DNA India - 20 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9cAQHb

  • Louisiana: Doctor works to deter girls drawn to smoking

    Dr. Andrea G. Espinoza remembers the emotional fallout of losing a young patient to lung cancer several years ago.

    The 33-year-old woman, a smoker, left behind a toddler son — and a distraught doctor.

    “It just really rocked me,” said Espinoza, director of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center in Houma. “It just paralyzes you.”

    Nurses at the hospital may have shared her sorrow, but not her shock: “Baby, that's not unheard of,” Espinoza said they told her.

    About a month later, Espinoza experienced more personal pain, when she lost a baby to miscarriage.

    At that point, Espinoza decided to channel her loss into positive change by using her medical knowledge to educate girls about tobacco use, in hopes that the information could rescue them from illness and death.

    The late 2007 loss of her young patient inspired Espinoza to start Female Awareness of Tobacco Effects, or FATE.

    “I want to go back to the beginning, to say the things that she should have heard at age 10 to 12,” Espinoza said.

    Espinoza teamed with husband, Luis, who works as an orthopedic surgeon, and good friend, Dr. Carla Taylor with Ochsner in New Orleans, to start the group.

    The nonprofit FATE offers free presentations led by Espinoza and aimed at girls ages 12 to 17. The organization, which strives to give at least one presentation a month, has so far visited Girl Scout troops, schools and churches in Baton Rouge.

    But Espinoza and other FATE members talked with about 150 girls at Ellender Memorial High School in Houma and hope to present information to more local girls.

    The group raises awareness of the effects of tobacco use in a respectful, educational way, as opposed to more aggressive, preachy methods, Espinoza said. The group, described as an awareness campaign and not an anti-tobacco campaign, centers on using reputable medical resources and up-to-date facts to educate girls about these effects.

    The presentations use images and even pig's lungs, treated to mimic the toll of smoking on human lungs, to illustrate the message.

    “We're not telling them, ‘You can't smoke,' ” said Espinoza's mother, Martha Girod of Baton Rouge. “But with anything in life, you need to know the consequences.”

    Children and teens often know smoking is bad for their health, but do not know why smoking can prove so damaging, Girod said.

    “With this generation, you have to tell them why,” she said.

    In Louisiana, almost 19 percent of high-school girls smoke, according to the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living. Ninety percent of adult smokers begin while in their teens or earlier, with two-thirds becoming regular smokers before they reach 19.

    Ads can make cigarettes look hip and hot to the younger set.

    “It's terrifying what's out there,” Espinoza said.

    But smoking might not seem so sexy when eyeing a pair of ash-blackened lungs or discussing the premature aging, acne, reproductive problems and tendencies toward substance abuse, heart disease and lung cancer shown to accompany those cool-looking cigarettes.

    Facts like these can prove surprising to young audiences, Espinoza said. The black smoker's lungs generate “absolute shock,” and a visual aid showing cigarette contents — ammonia, carbon monoxide and arsenic among others — also draws a strong response.

    “They're completely mortified,” Espinoza said.

    Teens also seem surprised to find that lung cancer forms the leading cause of cancer deaths in U.S. women.

    FATE held a gala in New Orleans in 2008 to draw attention to the group, but so far, the organization's money comes from member's pockets, Espinoza said.

    “It's something that I guess we're passionate about because we've lost so many of our family members to cancer,” Girod said.

    Girod's father died at 59 of lung cancer related to smoking. Girod also lost all of her great-uncles to lung cancer, and an aunt lost a lung to the disease.

    The family hopes that FATE encourages the next generation not to light up.

    “I'd rather speak now and not have to treat young women in the future,” Espinoza said.

    Source: Daily Comet - 19 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/d71uHy

  • Philip Morris consolidates cigarette-making operations

    Tucked between the new high-speed cigarette-makers and pack-loaders in Philip Morris USA's giant South Richmond plant, there now are lots of head-high, Plexiglas-walled boxes.

    Inside, robot-arms load rolls of cigarette paper or package and carton blanks, keeping a continuous feed of material flowing. Overhead, a conveyor belt, also walled in with clear plastic, forms an eight-loop-high spiral of cigarettes.

    The extra 3 feet between the cigarette-making machines and the beeping driverless cars that bring pallet-loads full of cigarettes to the loading docks are visible signs of a $230 million investment that the nation's No. 1 cigarette-maker has made to consolidate operations in Richmond.

    "We're about 98 percent done," Eric Schardt, director of cigarette manufacturing, said about the changes at the plant, during a rarely offered tour of the secure area.

    [...]

    With consolidation and modernization, the Richmond plant now makes about 149 billion cigarettes a year.

    Adding to the challenge of doing everything in one place is that Philip Morris USA has launched dozens of new varieties in the past few years.
    It now makes 27 different kinds of Marlboros in 43 different kinds of packaging. In addition to Marlboros, Philip Morris makes 88 other kinds of cigarettes in 114 packages.

    It puts a premium on flexibility and on cranking out lots of cigarettes.

    "We can handle orders from 360,000 a day of one brand to 500 million of another, at the extreme," Schardt said.
    . . .
    Each of the new machines in Bay 1 can produce 10,000 cigarettes a minute, using air pressure to shoot the equivalent of about 3/100 of an ounce of tobacco per cigarette into an endless tube of paper that's moving through its rollers at a rate of more than 22 mph.

    That's 25 percent more cigarettes per minute than the old machines, which Philip Morris still uses in Bay 3 of the plant, for the smaller runs of its less popular brands.

    [...]

    The machines measure weight and circumference and even blow through air to check what cigarette makers call "resistance to draw," which means how hard a smoker must drag to get a puff.
    . . .
    A big part of Philip Morris USA's investment in the plant is information technology.

    The cigarette-making machines, the pneumatic feed-lines from the tobacco-storage silos in the plant's basement, and its warehouse and the other cigarette-making supplies all talk to each other all of the time -- thanks to technology.

    Battered, pistol-shaped hand-held scanners are used all over -- most workers are assigned one, and most have specially installed rubber guards at the corners, too.

    "They really get a workout," said Schardt, picking up a particularly well-used scanner.

    But then, most days feel like a sprint at the plant.

    "From the time the tobacco comes up from downstairs, to pallets of cases being loaded on the trucks, you're talking maybe an hour," Schardt said.

    Source: Richmond Times Dispatch - 10 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9lANu1

  • Smoking film earns school win

    A group of 12 and 13-year-olds from a [Bristol] school are celebrating after their short film won a regional competition.

    The Year 8 students from Bristol Metropolitan Academy saw off competition from other schools from all over the south to claim first prize in the Lights Camera Parliament competition at Westminster.

    Kerisha Stephenson, Maherush Khan, Chris True, Denneshae Martin and Zoe Golledge were invited to London with six other teams of finalists. Their task – organised by the UK Parliamentary Education Service – had been to make a film that explained which one law they would make or change, and why?

    The Bristol Met students, working with teachers Meesh Lambert and Ian Garforth, decided to make theirs about banning smoking altogether, not just in public places.

    Kerisha said: "We thought one of the problems with smoking is that children sometimes copy adults, so we made our film about how that might be bad."

    The talented youngsters brought back four Flip video cameras for the Met Media Foundation, as well as bagging themselves cinema vouchers.

    Teacher Ian Garforth said: "It was a brilliant day – a really different experience for them. I thought it underlined how technology has made filmmaking a powerful tool."

    Too see the film, visit: www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/119335/title/Youngchildrencopybansmokinginpublicplaces

    Source: Evening Post - 28 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/ajtoDh

  • Video: Contraband tobacco costs Romania

    A third of the cigarettes smoked in Romania today are smuggled into the country. It is a trade that is costing the government millions in lost revenue and has forced one local cigarette factory to temporarily shut down.

    The Romanian government has now launched a renewed crackdown on the trade.

    [Click on the link below to view the video.]

    Source: BBC News- 10 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/b2bDdD

  • WTO ruling on tobacco row put off

    The release of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) preliminary ruling on a tobacco tax dispute between Manila and Bangkok has been pushed back to next month, according to a Philippine trade official. Trade Assistant Secretary Jose Antonio Buencamino told reporters last week that the dispute settlement panel that heard the case would release a report on the interim review by the end of June.

    The final report on the Philippine-Thailand trade row may be released by August, he said.

    The WTO’s decision was expected during the early part of this year, but the release of the ruling has been moved several times.

    Manila lodged a case against Bangkok at the WTO, alleging the latter violated global trade rules when it set higher customs values for Philippine cigarettes as well as jacked up the retail prices of imported cigarettes.

    The Philippines also claimed that Thailand did so to protect a state-owned tobacco manufacturer.

    [...]

    Source: The Manila Times - 10 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/90cuI9

  • Missing the forest (plot) for the trees? A critique of the systematic review in tobacco control

    Abstract

    Background
    The systematic review (SR) lies at the core of evidence-based medicine. While it may appear that the SR provides a reliable summary of existing evidence, standards of SR conduct differ. The objective of this research was to examine systematic review (SR) methods used by the Cochrane Collaboration ("Cochrane") and the Task Force on Community Preventive Services ("the Guide") for evaluation of effectiveness of tobacco control interventions.

    Methods
    We searched for all reviews of tobacco control interventions published by Cochrane (4th quarter 2008) and the Guide. We recorded design rigor of included studies, data synthesis method, and setting.

    Results
    About a third of the Cochrane reviews and two thirds of the Guide reviews of interventions in the community setting included uncontrolled trials. Most (74%) Cochrane reviews in the clinical setting, but few (15%) in the community setting, provided pooled estimates from RCTs. Cochrane often presented the community results narratively. The Guide did not use inferential statistical approaches to assessment of effectiveness.

    Conclusions
    Policy makers should be aware that SR methods differ, even among leading producers of SRs and among settings studied. The traditional SR approach of using pooled estimates from RCTs is employed frequently for clinical but infrequently for community-based interventions. The common lack of effect size estimates and formal tests of significance limit the contribution of some reviews to evidence-based decision making. Careful exploration of data by subgroup, and appropriate use of random effects models, may assist researchers in overcoming obstacles to pooling data.

    Rosen, L., et al., Missing the forest (plot) for the trees? A critique of the systematic review in tobacco control. BMC Medical Research Methodology 2010, 10:34 doi:10.1186/1471-2288-10-34

    Source: Biomedcentral - 25 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bjoE3z

  • Smokeless tobacco—proposals for regulation

    In 2006, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that smokeless tobacco is carcinogenic in human beings, causing cancer of the oral cavity and pancreas. IARC noted wide variability between geographic regions in the type and extent of disease caused by use of smokeless tobacco, and that the disease dissimilarities were accompanied by large differences in the concentrations of carcinogens in the tobacco used in different regions.

    Smokeless tobacco as used in Sweden does not increase the risk of oral cancer although there is an association with pancreatic cancer. In the USA, smokeless tobacco causes oral cancer. In India and parts of Africa, the risk of oral cancer in smokeless tobacco users is dramatically higher than that in the USA. The preparation (moist snuff or Snus) used in Sweden is produced to a standard that results in a low nitrosamine content. In the USA, there are traditional products with high levels of nitrosamines. Very high concentrations of nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have been found in some smokeless products from Asia and Africa.

    Smokeless tobacco has recently been considered by WHO's Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation (TobReg). Their recommendations were received by WHO's Executive Board in January, 2010. TobReg concluded that the scientific evidence suggests that the differences in carcinogenicity of smokeless tobacco in various regions is due, at least in part, to differences in carcinogen concentrations in the products used, and that the levels of these carcinogens can be dramatically reduced in commercially manufactured products with currently available manufacturing methods.

    Tobacco-specific nitrosamines are formed from tobacco alkaloids and nitrosating agents and are found only in tobacco products. Procedures exist for dramatically limiting the formation of tobacco-specific nitrosamines in smokeless tobacco, including use of short ageing processes, use of tobacco with low nitrate content, a pasteurisation-like process that destroys bacteria implicated in the formation of nitrosamines, and changes in the methods for curing tobacco. Refrigeration also helps limit the formation of nitrosamines during storage.

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are carcinogenic constituents of smokeless tobacco. The most common source of these compounds in smokeless tobacco is smoke from wood burnt during tobacco curing; therefore polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons can be viewed as unnecessary contaminants of smokeless tobacco that should not be present, rather than intrinsic constituents which should be minimised.

    TobReg has recommended that upper limits be set for two nitrosamines (NNN and NNK) and that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons should also be minimised. These limits can easily be (and are being) met in developed countries and should apply to all commercially manufactured smokeless tobacco. The limits are: NNN plus NNK, 1 μg per gram of dry weight tobacco; and benzopyrene, 5 ng per gram of dry weight tobacco.

    Recommending smokeless tobacco as a substitute for smoking, on the basis of the clearly established difference in the risk of using smoked and smokeless tobacco, remains a heated issue. Some urge recommendation of smokeless tobacco as a harm-reduction approach, while others express concern that such a recommendation might lead to increased smoking initiation as a gateway product or decreased cessation because smokeless tobacco is currently marketed for use when you cannot smoke. Independent of one's opinion on this issue, it is hard to justify allowing the products that are available to have higher levels of known carcinogens than is readily achievable with good manufacturing practices. For agencies with regulatory responsibility for tobacco products, including the newly empowered US Food and Drug Administration, the logic of limiting carcinogen levels would seem compelling from the evidence of differences in levels found in products used in different locations and the differences in disease manifestation in those locations. TobReg has also recommended that communication about such products be regulated to prevent unsubstantiated claims about exposure or disease reduction. Obviously, such regulation is difficult or impossible in village markets in Asia and Africa, but a start can be made by large manufacturers who sell in those areas.

    Gray, N. and Hecht, S., Smokeless tobacco—proposals for regulation, The Lancet, Vol 375, Issue 9726, Pages 1589 - 1591, 8 May 2010

    Source: The Lancet - 8 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/clvQbw

  • Team develops new model for investigating tobacco/oral cancer link

    Although tobacco use is widely understood to be one of the leading causes of oral cancer, research on the prevention of tobacco-related oral cancer in experimental animals has traditionally been limited to examining the impact of synthetic carcinogens manufactured especially for cancer research, rather than on observing the effects of carcinogens that occur in tobacco smoke.

    Now, a recently completed study conducted collaboratively by Dr. Joseph Guttenplan, a Professor of Basic Science & Craniofacial Biology at the NYU College of Dentistry, and Dr. Karam El-Bayoumy, a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State University College of Medicine and Associate Director of Basic Research at the Penn State Cancer Institute, has shown that a powerful carcinogen in tobacco smoke can be used for oral cancer research in experimental animals, thus providing a new, more relevant research model with which to understand the initiation, progression, and, ultimately, the prevention of oral cancer. The two-year study was sponsored by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the NIH.

    In a presentation on April 19 at the 2010 annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Washington, DC, Dr. Guttenplan said the findings could ultimately facilitate research aimed at identifying new approaches to oral cancer prevention.

    Oral cancer is a devastating disease that can severely and permanently compromise one's ability to eat, drink, talk, and even kiss. In the United States, about 100 new cases of oral cancer occur each day, and approximately 7,000 people die annually from the disease. Worldwide, over 640,000 new cases of oral cancer occur annually. In addition to tobacco use, alcohol use and exposure to the HPV-16 virus (human papilloma virus version 16) are the leading causes of oral cancer.

    The study described in Dr. Guttenplan's presentation examined the impact of injecting low, medium, and high doses of dibenzo[a,l]pyrene, a powerful carcinogen in tobacco, into the mouths of 104 mice. The researchers examined 24 of the mice for mutagenesis and 80 for carcinogenesis. After 38 weeks, all of the mice in the high-dose mutagenesis group developed excessive numbers of mutations in their oral tissue, and within one year, 31% of the high-dose carcinogenesis group displayed large tumors in their mouths.

    "As a result of this study," said Dr. Guttenplan, "we now have a model that is significantly better than past models which relied on synthetic carcinogens. "We plan to use this new model in future studies to examine potential agents for cancer prevention."

    Source: Physorg - 13 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9HEThv

Events

  • World No Tobacco Day

    The theme for this year's World Health Organization's World No Tobacco Day is "Gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women".

    Find out more on the WHO website: www.who.int/tobacco/wntd/2010/announcement/en/

    Date: 31 May 2010
    Venue: everywhere

  • 3-day course on running a specialist smoking cessation service

    'Maudsley Training' course which focuses on practical skills for clinicians, with essential information for clinicians, researchers, service co-ordinators and policy-makers seeking an up-to-date grasp of the field.

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

    Cost: 500 + VAT early registration

    Availability: 50+

    Date: 02 June 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

  • UK National Smoking Cessation Conference

    This year, the UKNSCC will reflect the latest developments in good practice for smoking cessation in special populations, new indications for NRT, medication compliance, marketing and supporting tobacco control activity, and the impact of illicit tobacco.

    For more information, please visit: uknscc.org

    Date: 14 June 2010
    Venue: Radisson SAS Hotel, Glasgow
    Contact: info@exchangesupplies.org

  • No smoke without fire: Practical approaches to smoking cessation in acute and community settings

    The conference will explore the human rights issues surrounding the ban on smoking in psychiatric hospitals in England; find out up to the minute results from the latest Department of Health survey of how the ban is working; hear staff and patients’ views on what it has meant for them; and pick up tips and advice about strategies for putting this difficult piece of policy into place. Delegates can also learn about the impact of a similar initiative in Australia and what else can be done here, outside a hospital setting, to address the high levels of smoking among people diagnosed with a mental health condition.

    Date: 17 June 2010
    Venue: The Resource Centre, London, N7
    Contact: http://www.pavpub.com/pavpub/conferences/showfull.asp?Conference=104

  • 4th Latin American Conference on Lung Cancer (LALCA 2010)

    The event will be a time for lung cancer professional from Latin America and around the world to share the most up-to-date information regarding the science and advances in the treatment of lung cancer. International and national speakers will participate in the Scientific Program and their presentations will provide a platform to discuss the latest developments in basic science and clinical treatment.
     

    Date: 28 July 2010
    Contact: www.lalca2010.org

  • 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