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ASH News and Events Bulletin - 16-30 April 2010

HEADLINES

EVENTS

  • Adolescents perceptions of tobacco control measures

    Abstract

    Understanding youth perceptions of measures that either encourage or discourage youth smoking is critical to help inform and consolidate tobacco control policy. Twelve focus groups, comprising adolescent smokers (N = 32) and nonsmokers (N = 35) aged 11 to 16 years were conducted in Glasgow and Lothian, Scotland. Each focus group explored factors adolescents encounter in everyday life that they perceive to facilitate or impede smoking, and about smoke-free legislation, smoking in domestic situations, access to cigarettes, and health warnings. It emerged that antitobacco advertisements and smoke-free legislation were considered of value in terms of being capable of reducing smoking. Although some adolescent smokers believed that adult smokers would not stop smoking because of a smoking ban, but instead compensate by smoking more elsewhere, such as at home, most adolescents with smoking parents or relatives indicate that this has not happened. Tightening regulation on ease of access to cigarettes was considered a suitable means of reducing youth smoking, although some smokers suggested that this could be easily circumvented by having others purchase tobacco on their behalf. Despite high awareness, text-only health warnings were not considered to discourage smoking. Point-of-sale tobacco displays however were considered to encourage smoking-being cool, fun, and attractive.

    Brown A, Moodie C., Adolescents' Perceptions of Tobacco Control Measures in the United Kingdom, Health Promotion Practice. 2010 Apr 26. [Epub ahead of print]

    Source: Sage Journals - 26 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9tqJYI

  • Lifestyle behaviours & mortality

    Abstract

    Background Physical activity, diet, smoking, and alcohol consumption have been shown to be related to mortality. We examined prospectively the individual and combined influence of these risk factors on total and cause-specific mortality.

    Methods The prospective cohort study included 4886 individuals at least 18 years old from a United Kingdom–wide population in 1984 to 1985. A health behavior score was calculated, allocating 1 point for each poor behavior: smoking; fruits and vegetables consumed less than 3 times daily; less than 2 hours physical activity per week; and weekly consumption of more than 14 units of alcohol (in women) and more than 21 units (in men) (range of points, 0-4). We examined the relationship between health behaviors and mortality using Cox models and compared it with the mortality risk associated with aging.

    Results During a mean follow-up period of 20 years, 1080 participants died, 431 from cardiovascular diseases, 318 from cancer, and 331 from other causes. Adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for total mortality associated with 1, 2, 3, and 4 poor health behaviors compared with those with none were 1.85 (95% CI, 1.28-2.68), 2.23 (95% CI, 1.55-3.20), 2.76 (95% CI, 1.91-3.99), and 3.49 (95% CI, 2.31-5.26), respectively (P value for trend, <.001). The effect of combined health behaviors was strongest for other deaths and weakest for cancer mortality. Those with 4 compared with those with no poor health behaviors had an all-cause mortality risk equivalent to being 12 years older.

    Conclusion The combined effect of poor health behaviors on mortality was substantial, indicating that modest, but sustained, improvements to diet and lifestyle could have significant public health benefits.

    Kvaavik, e. et al., Influence of Individual and Combined Health Behaviors on Total and Cause-Specific Mortality in Men and Women, The United Kingdom Health and Lifestyle Survey, Archives of Internal Medecine. 2010;170(8):711-718

    Source: American Medical Association - 26 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/b40j5S

  • Long-term consequences of fetal and neonatal nicotine exposure

    Abstract
    Cigarette smoking during pregnancy is associated with numerous obstetrical, fetal and developmental complications, as well as an increased risk of adverse health consequences in the adult offspring. Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) has been developed as a pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation, and is considered to be a safer alternative for women to smoking during pregnancy. The safety of NRT use during pregnancy has been evaluated in a limited number of short-term human trials, but there is currently no information on the long-term effects of developmental nicotine exposure in humans. However, animal studies suggest that nicotine alone may be a key chemical responsible for many of the long-term effects associated with maternal cigarette smoking on the offspring, such as impaired fertility, type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, neurobehavioural defects and respiratory dysfunction. This review will examine the long-term effects of fetal and neonatal nicotine exposure on postnatal health.

    Bruin, J., et al., Long-term consequences of fetal and neonatal nicotine exposure: a critical review, Toxicological Sciences Advance Access published online on April 2, 2010

    Source: Oxford Journals - 2 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/c96uxA

  • Multi-unit housing residents’ experiences and attitudes toward smokefree policies

    Abstract

    Introduction: Secondhand smoke (SHS) causes significant disease and death. A person’s home represents a prominent source of SHS, and the potential for exposure is elevated among those who live in close proximity to smokers in multiunit housing (MUH). This study assessed the prevalence and predictors of SHS exposure and smoke-free policy support among MUH residents.

    Methods: Data were obtained from 5,936 MUH residents who participated in the New York State Adult Tobacco Survey between May 2007 and May 2009. Bivariate analyses were used to assess the prevalence of smoke-free home policies, SHS incursions, and support for smoke-free policies. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of these measures while adjusting for gender, age, ethnicity, education, region, children in household, and housing type.

    Results: A total of 73.1% of respondents reported a personal smoke-free home policy in their home. Among these individuals, 46.2% indicated that SHS has ever entered their home in the past year, while 9.2% reported daily incursions. Overall, a majority of respondents (55.6%) support a policy that bans smoking in all areas of their building, including residential units; support was significantly higher among ethnic minorities and individuals who reside with children.

    Discussion: Nearly half of New York MUH residents with a smoke-free home policy have experienced a SHS incursion in their home. Since a majority of MUH residents support smoke-free policies and nearly three quarters already prohibit smoking in their home, opportunities exist for initiatives to promote smoke-free building policies.

    King, B. et al., Multiunit housing residents’ experiences and attitudes toward smoke-free policies, Nicotine & Tobacco Research Advance Access published online on April 15, 2010

    Source: Oxford Journals - 15 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/dg8oOy

  • Secondhand smoke as a potential cause of chronic rhinosinusitis

    Abstract

    Objective: To assess the role of secondhand smoke (SHS) in the etiology of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS).

    Design: Matched case-control study. Associations between SHS and CRS were evaluated by conditional logistic regression odds ratios.

    Setting: Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, Michigan.

    Participants: A total of 306 nonsmoking patients diagnosed as having an incident case of CRS and 306 age-matched, sex-matched, and race/ethnicity–matched nonsmoking control patients.

    Main Outcome Measures: Exposure to SHS for the 5 years before diagnosis of CRS (case patients) and before study entry (controls) for 4 primary sources: home, work, public places, and private social functions outside the home, such as parties, dinners, and weddings.

    Results: Of controls and case patients, respectively, 28 (9.1%) and 41 (13.4%) had SHS exposure at home, 21 (6.9%) and 57 (18.6%) at work, 258 (84.3%) and 276 (90.2%) in public places, and 85 (27.8%) and 157 (51.3%) at private social functions. Adjusted for potential confounders (socioeconomic status and exposures to air pollution and chemicals or respiratory irritants from hobbies, work, or elsewhere), the odds ratios for CRS were 1.69 (95% confidence interval, 0.92-3.10) for SHS exposure at home, 2.81 (1.42-5.57) for exposure at work, 1.48 (0.88-2.49) for exposure in public places, and 2.60 (1.74-3.89) for exposure at private functions. A strong, independent dose-response relationship existed between CRS and the number of venues where SHS exposure occurred (odds ratio per 1 of 4 levels,2.03; 95% confidence interval, 1.55-2.66). Approximately 40.0% of CRS appeared to be attributable to SHS.

    Conclusions: Exposure to SHS is common and significantly independently associated with CRS. These findings have important clinical and public health implications.

    Tammemagi, M. et al., Secondhand Smoke as a Potential Cause of Chronic Rhinosinusitis: A Case-Control Study, Archives of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery. 2010;136(4):327-334.

    Source: American Medical Association - 4 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/b8xlJl

  • Tobacco firms take aim at Bangladeshi, Asian women

    Bangladeshi chest doctor Kazi Saifuddin Bennoor has seen many misleading cigarette advertisements, but the one that suggested smoking could make childbirth easier plumbed new depths.

    Advertisements telling smokers they are smarter, more energetic and better lovers than their non-smoking counterparts are a familiar sight across Bangladesh -- something unimaginable in most other countries.

    One in a rural area, Bennoor remembers, said that "if a lady smokes, her baby will be smaller and it will be easier to deliver, the labour will be less painful".

    "These are very ruthless advertisements," said Saifuddin, an associate professor at Bangladesh's National Hospital for Chest Diseases.

    The promotion is being linked to an alarming rise in tobacco use in the impoverished South Asian country, particularly among women and the young -- a trend repeated across many developing countries, anti-tobacco groups say.

    The World Health Organisation warns that tobacco companies are targeting women in developing countries as a new growth market and Dhaka-based doctors treating lung diseases report they are seeing more female patients.

    Around 28 percent of adult Bangladeshi women now use tobacco, according to the latest WHO survey, and 43 percent of the adult population -- or 41 million people -- use tobacco in some form, up from 37 percent in 2004.

    "(Tobacco use) has become an epidemic among rural women. It's a very serious health issue," a government advisor on health, Syed Mudasser Ali, told AFP, adding that anti-smoking laws were poorly enforced.

    Tobacco advertising was banned in Bangladesh in 2005, so the advertisements are usually fly-posters that do not specify the company behind the message.

    "Only a negligible number of people have been fined for breaching tobacco laws over the last few years," Ali said.

    Officially 57,000 people die in Bangladesh of tobacco use annually, but that figure was likely a "huge underestimate".

    The country fits a pattern emerging across the region of rising rates of female tobacco use, particularly in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia.

    This rise is largely because more Asian women are entering the workforce, have disposable income and see smoking as "modern and liberated," said doctor Mary Assunta, director of the International Tobacco Control Project.

    "I've seen tobacco companies' marketing campaigns on my university campus and in residential dormitories," said one 25-year-old Bangladeshi female smoker who used to smoke a pack a day but is trying to quit on her doctor's advice.

    "They approach students with a questionnaire and ask them to fill it in to win T-shirts or lighters," she said, adding that she started smoking as her friends in class at Dhaka University all smoked.

    Tobacco companies are encouraging the trend, viewing women in developing countries as their "largest unexploited market", according to the WHO -- which has chosen the theme of tobacco marketing to women for 2010 No Tobacco Day on May 31.

    "We see clear marketing strategies targeting women in Asia such as lipstick-type cigarette packs in Indonesia, Malaysia and Laos," said Assunta.

    The pretty, small packets of ultra-thin cigarettes are designed to be something a woman would like to carry around with her at all times, just like her favourite lipstick.

    "These fit easily into women’s purses. Cigarette packs are coloured pink and there are even fruit flavoured cigarettes," Assunta said.

    Tobacco companies in Bangladesh contacted by AFP all denied using illegal fly-posters or point of sales marketing, which the ministry of health hoped to stop with an amended version of the 2005 law.

    The market is dominated by volume leader Dhaka Tobacco, which has a 40-percent share and monopolises low-end sales.

    British American Tobacco, which makes the popular Pall Mall and John Player Gold Leaf cigarettes, dominates the 140 million dollar premium tobacco market with its Benson and Hedges brand.

    "BAT Bangladesh markets cigarettes in Bangladesh in full compliance of all applicable laws, rules, and regulations," company spokesman Shamim Zahedy told AFP, adding that their marketing only targeted existing smokers.

    In February, WHO chief Margaret Chan said that developing countries were the "new frontier" for tobacco marketing.

    "If Big Tobacco is in retreat in some parts of the world, it is on the march in others," she said in a speech on the fifth anniversary of an international convention on tobacco control.

    "In these countries as elsewhere, girls and women are a market with attractive and lucrative growth potential, and they are likewise being targeted," Chan said.

    In developed countries, tobacco companies have seen their marketing restricted or banned and sales are falling as public health campaigns and tight rules on smoking in public places hit profits.

    As a result, developing markets are becoming "increasingly important" for transnational companies such as BAT and Philip Morris International -- which is aggressively expanding in the Philippines and Indonesia, said Assunta.

    "Tobacco companies are definitely putting effort into consolidating their positions in low income countries," she said.

    Even Bangladesh, where nearly 40 percent of the population of 144 million lives on less than a dollar a day, is a lucrative tobacco market, with annual sales estimated at around one billion dollars.

    In Bangladesh's remote, rural areas, the health risks of tobacco use are not always well known, Bennoor said, making poor farmers -- particularly women who are generally less well educated -- an easy target.

    "It is a vicious cycle: people who are poor are more vulnerable to tobacco addiction, and then they are smoking, and it makes them poorer," he said.

    For Bangladesh's rural poor, approximately 4.5 percent of household expenditure goes on tobacco, according to WHO estimates.

    In some areas, there have been signs of a fightback against the advertising, however.

    At Dhaka University, one fly-poster claiming "smoking makes you smarter and more manly" prompted a student-run counter-campaign.

    "We are smart and we don't smoke," said handmade posters plastered over the original adverts on the university's city-center campus.

    Source: My Sinchew - 29 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/aZMXIk

  • Alison Cooper, Imperial Tobacco chief, rails against positive discrimination

    Alison Cooper, who will next month become only the second British woman appointed to run a FTSE 100 company when she takes the reins at Imperial Tobacco, has hit out at proposals for positive discrimination to get more women into Britain's top boardrooms.

    "Trying to force a percentage of woman on boards – I'm completely against all that," she insists. Cooper was commenting on a campaign, led by the Fawcett Society, for a quota of women to be introduced in Britain's boardrooms. Such measures imposed in Norway have led the number of women on boards to rise from 6% to 44% in six years.

    Asked why she believes so few women have been appointed to run the largest multinational companies listed on the London stock exchange, Cooper says: "People talk about glass ceilings but it is not something I have particularly experienced – but that is only my experience. I find it hard to comment to be honest. I could splutter on a bit longer, but I won't."

    There are just four women chief executives of FTSE 100 firms – Dame Marjorie Scardino of publisher Pearson, Angela Ahrendts of fashion group Burberry, Cynthia Carroll at miner Anglo American and Katherine Garrett-Cox of Alliance Trust. Of these, only Garrett-Cox is British.

    Cooper's fierce opposition to positive discrimination is in keeping with a wider hostility to what she sees as a "tide of ridiculous regulation". In partnership with other tobacco firms, Imperial – best known in Britain for its Lambert & Butler and Richmond cigarettes – is pursuing a judicial review of new laws to ban vending machines and shop counter cigarette display shelves which are due to come into force in October 2011.

    Cooper was delighted by a promise this week from Conservative shadow health minister Mike Penning to bring the legislation back before parliament should the Tories win power – but she is annoyed at the attitude of the other two mainstream parties toward smoking in Britain, where Imperial makes and markets almost half of all cigarettes.

    An occasional cigar-smoker herself, Cooper would like to unwind the 2008 ban on smoking in public places – legislation which will be formally reviewed later this year. "There should be more freedom of choice. People should be free to decide whether to go to a smoking establishment or a non-smoking environment." That said, though Imperial campaigned vigorously against the ban, Cooper holds out little hope a new government, whatever the hue, would reverse the ban.

    Cooper, who is taking over from long-serving chief executive Gareth Davis, was following his refusal to accept that smoking causes lung cancer – despite the government-imposed "smoking kills" warning printed on Imperial packs. "Imperial has its stated position," she said. "This is a risky product ... I am not qualified to have a scientific debate." Finally, in frustration, she said: "What I don't think has been helpful over the years has been the focus on that particular point."

    Cooper's path to the top started at Bristol University, then a spell at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she spent several years working closely with Imperial. She eventually jumped from trusted adviser to executive employee in 1999 and quickly became a protégé of Davis. Working closely with him on multibillion-pound deals, she helped transform the business from a low-growth British-focused firm into a leading international player.

    But Cooper is clear under her tenure the company is moving to a very different phase. The likelihood of further mega-deals is slim in a well consolidated global industry. "Yes we have costs we can optimise; yes there will be some acquisition opportunities; but the lion's share of our attention has to be on driving sales."

    Source: The Guardian, 27 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bKMJdU

  • BAT struggles as cigarette demand falls

    British American Tobacco reported a four per cent fall in underlying first quarter volumes yesterday as fewer customers bought cigarettes.

    The London-based group, which makes Kent, Dunhill, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall cigarettes, said its consumers were finding economic conditions difficult and volumes suffered as a result of the decline in some markets.

    Overall volumes dipped one per cent to 168bn cigarettes in the first three months of 2010, hit by declines in key markets such as Japan, Brazil, Russia, Romania and Turkey, but partly offset by the acquisition of Indonesian cigarette maker PT Bentoel last year.

    Despite falling cigarette volumes, chief executive Paul Adams said: “There was continued pricing momentum and good growth in market share, leading to solid revenue growth. We remain on track for the year.”

    The revenue growth was driven by strong price increases and the impact of favourable exchange rates, the company said.

    However, all regions saw volume declines after stripping out Bentoel’s sales, apart from the Americas which saw flat volumes. Its top four brands managed to buck the trend, led by Dunhill which saw volumes up 24 per cent helped by growth in Brazil.

    The company’s shares fell 1.5 per cent yesterday closing at 2,107.5p having dropped almost eight per cent since early March.

    Source: City AM - 29 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9rVH0z

  • Makers and retailers fined £225m over tobacco pricing

    The competition watchdog [...] hit ten retailers and two tobacco manufacturers with fines totalling £225 million for "unlawful practices" in pricing of cigarettes, cigars and rolling tobacco.

    The fine - the largest total ever imposed by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) - came after Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher struck 'price matching' arrangements with retailers in which the prices of their tobacco products were linked to those made by rivals.

    Simon Williams, the OFT's senior director of goods, said: "Practices such as these, which restrict the ability of retailers to set their resale prices for competing brands independently, are unlawful.

    "They can lead to reduced competition and ultimately disadvantage consumers."

    The OFT said the breaches took place between 2001 and 2003.

    The retailers caught up in the case were Asda, the Co-operative Group, First Quench, Morrisons, One Stop Stores (formerly T&S Stores), Safeway, Sainsbury's, Shell, Somerfield and TM Retail, the owner of the McColls and Martins chains.

    Safeway has since been bought by Morrisons, the Co-operative has acquired Somerfield and First Quench - which owned off-licence Threshers - went into administration last year.

    The watchdog said the agreements over price links between rival brands "restricted the ability of these retailers to determine their selling prices independently".

    Supermarket Asda, one of the six firms which applied for leniency from the OFT in 2008, was fined £14.1 million, while the Co-operative Group was handed a £14.2 million penalty.

    Sainsbury's escaped a fine because it blew the whistle on the practices, while the watchdog has dropped allegations against market leader Tesco due to lack of evidence.

    Imperial Tobacco, whose tobacco brands include Lambert & Butler, received the biggest fine - £112.3 million - but denied "categorically" that its pricing practices were anti-competitive or impacted consumers.

    The group plans to appeal and added: "The purpose of these arrangements was to encourage our brands to be priced competitively and that the promotional discounts given to retailers were passed on to consumers in the form of lower retail prices.

    "Far from being anti-competitive, these arrangements were pro-competitive and to the benefit of consumers. Retailers remained free to set their own prices."

    Gallaher, which was bought by Japan Tobacco in 2007 and makes Silk Cut cigarettes, was fined £50.3 million.

    Further coverage of this story:

    - OFT levies £225m fine for cigarette price fixing - The Guardian

    - OFT imposes record £225m fine over tobacco price-fixing - The Telegraph

    - 'Unlawful' tobacco pricing leads to £225m fine by OFT - BBC News

    - Supermarkets fined £225m for fixing tobacco prices - Times Online

    - OFT fines retailers and tobacco groups - Financial Times

    - Response to Office of Fair Trading ("OFT") Decision - Imperial Tobacco

    Source: The Independent - 16 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bhDyHx

  • Reynolds hands over its Bailey Power Plant to the research park

    R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. fulfilled an eight-year pledge yesterday by handing over the most visible and symbolic piece of a 38-acre donation to Piedmont Triad Research Park.

    The manufacturer gave the park the Bailey Power Plant and its smokestack, a signature part of the downtown skyline for decades. The company stopped using the coal-fired plant in 1997.

    The company also made a $2 million unrestricted gift to the park to help accelerate its expansion. The company estimated the overall value of the donated properties at $19 million.

    "Reynolds has long supported the local community and Winston-Salem's economic development," said Susan Ivey, the chairwoman, chief executive and president of Reynolds.

    "This announcement celebrates a milestone in downtown development and underscores the company's commitment to play an important role in downtown revitalization."

    Doug Edgeton, the president of the park, said that the plans are to renovate the plant rather than demolish it, and that the smokestack will remain. He estimates that there is about 182,000 square feet of space within the building.

    "There are no concrete plans for the building yet," Edgeton said.

    "It has a unique character. We're certainly interested in offices, retail, a library, museum, entertainment venue and restaurants. We believe it can play a key role linking downtown to the research park."

    Edgeton said he is evaluating how the park will use the $2

    million donation, including toward renovation costs for the plant.

    The park is expected to receive the final piece of the property donation this fall. Part of that property off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Linden Street is being converted into an onramp to U.S. 52.

    Edgeton said that renovation of the plant will serve as a catalyst in developing the North District over the next five years.

    When plans surfaced for the district in February 2008, the goal was converting 1.1 million square feet of the warehouses "into an urban live-work-play community," with Wake Forest University Health Sciences as the primary driver.

    It would include medical laboratory and research space, a variety of residential options and commercial space.

    Since then, however, the recession has served as a cold shower to major capital investments, putting the project on the back burner.

    Allen Joines, the mayor of Winston-Salem, said that a project involving the North District is expected to be presented to the Winston-Salem City Council at its April 19 meeting.

    Overall, the park is planned to cover more than 200 acres when complete.

    The park has been negotiating with Wexford Science and Technology LLC of Maryland on developing the North District. Wexford is a real-estate investment company that focuses on developments for universities, health care, science and technology.

    Edgeton said that Wexford would not be involved in renovating the plant "because it is not its specialty."

    "We're working on a revision of our master plan for the park," Edgeton said. "We are getting more interest from outside the community on our infrastructure."

    Jason Thiel, the president of the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership, said he is looking forward to having another anchor destination downtown.

    "I appreciate the way that the research park is building on a city grid," Thiel said. "Giving downtown another place for people to congregate is exciting and hopefully will play a role in boosting people living downtown as well."

    Source: Winston-Salem Journal - 8 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/90Sjg8

  • Tobacco groups seek to challenge display ban

    Britain's three biggest cigarette makers are to challenge through the courts an impending ban on the display of tobacco products at retailers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

    Imperial Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and British American Tobacco said on Monday they are to seek a judicial review of the relevant sections of the Health Act 2009, in which the UK government is looking to impose the display ban to discourage smoking.

    Imperial, which makes Lambert & Butler and Richmond cigarettes in the UK, said there is no evidence to suggest children start smoking or that adult smokers continue to smoke as a result of the display of tobacco products.

    "If this misguided legislation is implemented it will simply fuel the growth in the illicit trade of tobacco and create a huge cost burden for retailers who are already under considerable pressure as a result of the difficult economic climate," said Chief Executive Gareth Davis in a statement.

    JTI, which took over Gallaher in 2007 and makes Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut cigarettes in the UK, called the regulations "unreasonable and disproportionate" and said it had no option but to start the legal process to challenge the ban.

    BAT, which makes Rothmans and Pall Mall cigarettes, added there was no evidence to show the move will cut smoking rates in the UK, but argued it would damage competition and the livelihoods of tens of thousands of small businesses.

    It said driving legal trade from public view will encourage illegal traders.

    The Health Act 2009 requires cigarettes, cigars, pipe and roll-your own tobacco products to be hidden from view in England, Wales and Northern Ireland from October 2011 in large retailers and from October 2013 in smaller outlets.

    Scotland is pushing its own banning legislation through its own parliament.

    Further coverage of this story:

    - Tobacco firm in legal bid over ban, Associated Press - 27 April 2010

    - Clash nears over tobacco displays, Financial Times - 27 April 2010

    - Tobacco Firms To Challenge UK Display Ban, Wall Street Journal - 26 April 2010

    - Cigarette makers seek review of display ban, The Times - 17 April 2010

    - Imperial Tobacco beats forecasts but hits out at regulation. The Guardian - 27 April 2010

    - Banning tobacco displays 'misguided', says Imperial, The Scotsman - 27 April 2010

    - Tories back cigarette companies' effort to turn over ban on display of tobacco products. The Telegraph - 27 April 2010

    - Tories back industry appeal against cigarette display law, the Evening Standard - 26 April 2010

    - Legal Confusion on Display Ban Makes Delay Necessary, ACS - 26 April 2010

    - Tobacco companies use bully-boy tactics to challenge display ban, ASH - 26 April 2010

    Source: Reuters - 26 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9q5y19

  • Tobacco is stealing a march on alcohol

    Benson & Hedges? British American Tobacco (BAT) SA in 2007 discontinued the gold-packeted cigarette and tried to shift smokers to a similar- tasting brand, Kent.

    To push the message, BAT used a clever tactic. The company covered Kent boxes in Benson & Hedges wrappers, so that people buying them opened the packet — to find Kent underneath.

    “ It was classic marketing,” says Mark Ansley, a portfolio manager at Cadiz Asset Management in Cape Town.

    Forced out of mainstream TV and print advertising by legal restrictions, tobacco companies have had to become nimble. While the loss of traditional media is a disadvantage, it has forced tobacco makers to take opportunities where they arise.

    “Consumer companies wanting to market goods have to find more innovative ways to do it. Tobacco companies have got 10 years’ advantage,” Ansley says.

    Companies such as BAT, with a 90% share of SA’s cigarette market, are adamant that they do not seek to circumvent advertising restrictions.

    They are not allowed to target nonsmokers or children. The latest restriction, the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act, last year outlawed direct communication with consumers, limiting promotion on new-media sites such as Facebook.

    Companies focus, instead, on influencing trade customers — bar staff, restaurant owners and the like — so that they recommend a brand to consumers.

    “In terms of corporate culture, there is an entrepreneurialism in tobacco companies and an instinct to try new things,” says Brendan Wade, MD of studio4332 , an advertising agency specialising in below-the- line ( not traditional advertising) digital communication.

    But how good are other companies? Restrictions aside, a wealth of new channels compete with the traditional ones and allow advertisers to target a specific market group more effectively than the scatter-gun approach of traditional media.

    However, alcohol producers are slow to grasp this, Wade says. “They’re demonstrating a weird inability to bridge the gap, whereas the tobacco guys are incredibly responsive to new things.”

    Future possible advertising restrictions on alcohol — producers say effective self-regulation will lessen the need for more rules — makes this failure a concern, Wade says.

    “They’ve got the luxury of time, but need a clear brand strategy that says, ‘In 2-3 years’ time the ordinary channels will fall away, so do I know what the new ways are?’ I don’t think the alcohol guys are there yet.”

    The alcohol guys agree, but only partly.

    “It’s a fair criticism we’ve been perhaps slower to assimilate and take hold of the opportunities digital presents,” says Gavin Pike, marketing director of drinks company brandhouse .

    However, it takes time to set mechanisms so that messages in forums such as MXit and Facebook, with a high proportion of under-18s, would only reach adult audiences, Pike says.

    Others reject the criticism.

    “The vast majority of our market has limited access to the web and is still very responsive to traditional media. The weight of our investment is thus still in traditional media,” says SAB marketing director Ian Penhale.

    While internet connectivity may be low, it will not stay that way for long as surging cellphone ownership in Africa gives consumers internet access.

    “Internet penetration levels are not necessarily where they are in the first world, but it would be naïve to use that as an obstacle to a one-to-one strategy,” Wade says. “Mobile is going to become the primary channel of delivery for brand communication.”

    Source: Business Day - 7 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bjWROg

  • Australia: Big tobacco to fight Rudd's cigarette plain packaging plan

     

    Outraged tobacco companies have blasted Kevin Rudd's new cigarette packaging plans, threatening to challenge them in court and seek compensation.

    Earlier today the Prime Minister announced the tax on cigarettes would increase by 25 per cent from midnight tonight and that tobacco companies would be required to use plain packaging from July 1, 2012.

    Mr Rudd said he went public with the plan because of Australian Tax Office reports that revealed smokers, fearing a price rise, had begun stockpiling cigarettes.

    The moves have been welcomed by health advocates but tobacco companies are arguing the new packaging plan will damage their brand name and some already have plans to take legal action.

    “Introducing plain packaging just takes away the ability of a consumer to identify our brand from another brand and that's of value to us,” Imperial Tobacco Australia spokeswoman Cathie Keogh told ABC Radio.

    She added the company was planning legal action.

    British American Tobacco Australia told The Australian Online: “We oppose plain packaging and we will defend the intellectual property which lies in that packaging.

    “If that requires us to take legal action, then we would do so.

    “We would look at various things, including intellectual property rights, trademark legislation and remedies under international treaties.”

    BATA would also consider pursuing compensation from the government for “acquisition of our property on unjust terms”.

    Retailers have also said the tax hike would hurt their businesses and agreed with tobacco companies that plain packaging would bolster the cigarette black market.

    “It's a lazy policy response being pushed by some health advocates,” said Mick Daly, chairman of Australian supermarket chain IGA.

    “That amounts to a direct attack on approximately 16 per cent of Australians who have made legal and legitimate lifestyle choices.”

    The Australian Newsagents' Federation said the move would hurt punters who buy smokes and affect the budget bottom line of newsagencies.

    Chief executive Alf Maccioni said he thought the government was indulging in a greedy tax grab rather than taking action because of genuine health concerns about cigarettes.

    “It would appear that the proposed increase in tobacco excise is not motivated by health concerns but rather is an unfair and excessive tax grab.”

    But the head of the government's preventative health taskforce said there would be one million fewer smokers by 2020 if measures such as plain cigarette packets were implemented.

    And Professor Rob Moodie said he did not believe tobacco companies would be entitled to compensation.

    “It's a solid case on constitutional and legal grounds,” he said, rejecting suggestions easy-to-copy plain packets would be a boon for dodgy cigarette counterfeiters.

    Mr Rudd said that revenue from the hike in the tobacco excise would generate an extra $5 billion over four years and would be directly invested in hospitals.

    Announcing the rise himself in Sydney's Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices, the Prime Minister said it would not lift the government in the popularity stakes.

    “This is a tough decision for the government,” he said. “It won't win the government any popularity. The big tobacco companies will hate what we are doing.

    “It is the right decision.”

    The tax hike means the price of a pack of 30 cigarettes will increase by about $2.16

    The government believes the changes will cut tobacco consumption by 6 per cent and the number of smokers by 2 or 3 per cent - totalling roughly 87,000 Australian smokers.

    Internet advertising of cigarettes will also be restricted, and an extra $27.8 million will be spent on anti-smoking campaigns.

    Health Minister Nicola Roxon said 15,000 people a year were dying from tobacco-related illnesses. When she was a young child her father, who smoked, died from cancer of the oesophagus

    “If our action today can mean that any other child has their parents with them for a little longer, that'll be a good thing. And we don't make any apologies about taking this action,” she said.

    Despite announcing a series of policy backdowns through other government ministers in recent weeks, Mr Rudd delivered today's “tough decision” on cigarettes personally.

    Last week junior ministers Greg Combet and Kate Ellis were charged with walking away from the government's commitment to resume its home insulation scheme and its promise to end the “double drop-off” for parents by building another 222 childcare centres.

    Also last week Attorney-General Robert McClelland dropped a proposal for a human rights charter, claiming it was too politically divisive.

    Three weeks ago the suspension on Sri Lankan and Afghan asylum-seeker claims was announced by the Immigration Minister Chris Evans, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor.

    Opposition health spokesman Peter Dutton earlier today supported an increase in the tobacco excise but questioned the timing of the cigarette packaging announcement by the Rudd government.

    He argued it was a deliberate attempt to shift attention away from the government's recent policy backflips, including yesterday's delaying of the emissions trading scheme.

    Other sources:

    Source: The Independent, 29 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/cax0dp

    Source: Business Week, 29 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/coDsBQ

    Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 29 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bipaS0

    Source: AFP, 29 April010
    Link: http://bit.ly/d494p6

    Source: The Financial Times, 29 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9OttV8

    Source: The Australian - 29 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/biuU9i

  • Ferrari F1 barcode a ‘smokescreen for cigarette adverts’

    Leading doctors are demanding an immediate government inquiry into “subliminal” tobacco advertising on Ferrari’s Formula One cars, and the company’s $1 billion relationship with the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, The Times has learnt.

    The red, white and black bar code emblazoned on Ferrari’s racing cars and its drivers’ overalls is designed to remind viewers of a packet of Marlboro cigarettes, it is claimed. Under EU legislation it is an offence for a tobacco company to sponsor sporting events.

    Yesterday a spokesman for the European Public Health Commissioner said he thought that Marlboro’s approach constituted potential subliminal marketing. He urged the Spanish and British governments to ascertain whether the world’s second-biggest tobacco company might be in breach of the law.

    Formula One teams are due to fly into Spain for the European leg of the season which begins in ten days’ time. The British Grand Prix is on July 11.

    Don Elgie, chief executive of Creston, which owns the advertising agency DLKW, said he thought that the bar code was subliminal advertising — where a brand is so recognisable that consumers can be reminded of a product without actually seeing it.

    John Britton, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and director of its tobacco advisory group, said: “The bar code looks like the bottom half of a packet of Marlboro cigarettes. I was stunned when I saw it. This is pushing at the limits. If you look at how the bar code has evolved over the last four years, it looks like creeping branding.”

    Gerard Hastings, director of the Centre for Tobacco Control Research, said: “I think this is advertising. Why a bar code? What is their explanation?”

    Frank Dobson, who was Health Secretary between 1997 and 1999, also called for an inquiry. Mr Dobson, now a backbench Labour MP, said: “The tobacco firms were working out years ago how they could advertise if there was a ban on tobacco advertising.”

    Spokesmen for Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, and the Department of Health refused to comment. A spokesperson for the BBC, which has a contract to broadcast Formula One, said: “We are confident that Formula One, and as a result our coverage of Formula One, is fully compliant with regulations.”

    In September 2005 Philip Morris, the maker of Marlboro, extended its financial backing for the Ferrari team until 2011, despite the ban on cigarette branding on cars racing in the European Union. The contract is understood to be worth $1 billion over ten years and Philip Morris said Ferraris would not carry Marlboro branding where there was a ban.

    A spokesman for the Italian car maker said: “The bar code is part of the livery of the car, it is not part of a subliminal advertising campaign.”

    Asked about the Philip Morris contract he said: “$100 million [a year] is not a correct figure. We do not disclose the figure — the figure you mention, it is lower.”

    Ferrari is the only Formula One team with a tobacco brand in its formal title, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. Its logo also has the bar code and its drivers, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, wear overalls bearing the bar code next to the Ferrari logo on each arm.

    Philip Morris said: “We are confident that our relationship with Ferrari does not violate the UK 2002 Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act. The Formula One Grand Prix in the UK does not involve any race cars, team apparel, equipment or track signage carrying tobacco product branding. The same is true for all other Formula One races across the world.”

    Source: The Times, 29 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bgFsyp

  • Indonesia: Where there's smoke, there’s no fiery religious passion

    Life is hard for Indonesia’s anti-tobacco lobby. More and more teenagers are smoking; tobacco is still advertised on television and at concerts and sporting events; and the police fail to enforce even the most basic smoking bans. Some 70% of Indonesian men older than 20 smoke, and 400,000 Indonesians die each year from smoking-related illnesses, according to the World Health Organisation. Perhaps unsurprisingly, anti-smoking groups have turned to religion.

    They have teamed up with Muhammadiyah, Indonesia’s second-largest Islamic organisation, with some 30m members. It has issued a fatwa declaring smoking haram, or forbidden under Islam. There is, however, a snag. The ruling is useless. Indonesia has more than 190m Muslims, and the government is occasionally guilty of pandering to the religious right. In April the Constitutional Court refused to repeal a 1965 blasphemy law, which has strict provisions that are widely abused by Islamist groups. On the other hand, Indonesia’s constitution and government are secular. Fatwas have no legal force and are widely flouted.

    This did not stop religious groups and the anti-smoking lobby from mobilising to try to stop a planned concert in Jakarta by Kelly Clarkson, an American singer. It was to be sponsored by Djarum, one of the country’s main tobacco companies, and its L.A. Lights cigarette brand. Muhammadiyah—though not other religious groups—declared the concert also haram.

    It didn’t matter. The uproar only served to boost ticket sales, and the concert was due to go ahead on April 29th, after Ms Clarkson issued a statement saying she was unaware of the sponsorship arrangement and was personally opposed to smoking. L.A. Lights withdrew as the show’s main sponsor.

    The brand, however, may well have emerged the winner from the controversy. Not only did it receive far more publicity than its sponsorship money would have bought. It also earned a bad-boy image that has done it no harm with teenage smokers.

    Meanwhile, the religious right and anti-smoking lobby dented their own credibility. Busy vituperating against Ms Clarkson’s concert—after foreign activists spotted the smoking link—they kept hypocritically mum about the L.A. Lights Open, a volleyball tournament held at the same time on the island of Batam.

    There might be better targets for the anti-smoking lobbies, such as the failure to enforce a four-year old ban on smoking in Jakarta’s buildings. That would at least spare Indonesians the embarrassment of watching their elected representatives on live television, puffing away in the chambers of parliament.

    Source: The Economist - 29 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/a2Rfjl

  • Public consultation on regulation of nicotine containing products extended

     

    The MHRA has extended the consultation period seeking] views on whether to bring all nicotine containing products (NCPs) – with the exception of tobacco and tobacco products - within the medicines licensing regime. This would require all currently unlicensed NCPs on the market, such as electronic cigarettes containing nicotine and nicotine gels, to apply to the MHRA for a medicines marketing authorisation (MA).

    [...]

    The deadline for comments is 2 June 2010.

    Source: MHRA - 19 April 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9ZDBK6

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