ASH Daily News for 30 June 2008

Smoking ban has saved 40,000 lives

A report says the smoking ban has triggered the biggest fall in smoking ever seen in England.

More than two billion fewer cigarettes were smoked and 400,000 people quit the habit since the ban was introduced a year ago, which researchers say will prevent 40,000 deaths over the next 10 years.

After a prolonged political battle that split the Government and inflamed critics of Britain as a nanny state, longer term opposition to the ban never materialised with more than three out of four people supporting the law, and compliance has been virtually 100 per cent.

Doctors said they were astonished by the numbers quitting. Robert West, director of tobacco studies at the Health Behaviour Research Unit, University College London, who carried out the study, said: "These figures show the largest fall in the number of smokers on record. The effect has been as large in all social groups – poor as well as rich. I never expected such a dramatic impact. There was no guarantee that smoking rates would not start to rise again, after falling, and it was crucial to maintain the downward pressure," Professor West said. Currently around 22 per cent of the adult population smoke in Britain.

"If the Department of Health can keep up the momentum this has created, there is a realistic prospect of achieving a target of less than 15 per cent of the population smoking within 10 years," he said.

The survey of 32,000 people in England interviewed before and after the ban took effect found the decline in smoking had accelerated. In the nine months before the ban it fell 1.6 per cent compared with 5.5 per cent in the nine months after the ban. Researchers estimate on the basis of these figures that 400,000 people quit smoking as a result of the ban.

Jean King, Cancer Research UK's director of tobacco control, said: "The smokefree law was introduced to protect the health of workers from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke. The results show it has also encouraged smokers to quit.  We must do everything possible to continue this success – we now need a national tobacco control plan for the next five years."

Cigarette sales fell by 6 per cent in the past year, according to the market research company, Neilson. In the 10 months from July 2007 to the end of April 2008, 1.93 billion fewer cigarettes were sold in England and 220,000 fewer in Scotland (where the smoking ban was introduced a year earlier), equivalent to a total decline in sales over the full year of 2.6 billion.

Jake Shepherd, the marketing director at Neilson, said smoking had been hit by a triple whammy, which accounted for the dramatic effect.

Proposals to restrict the sale of cigarettes by removing them from display and a ban on vending machines are under consideration by the Government. The anti-smoking pressure group ASH said that further action was necessary to curb smoking by young people.

Deborah Arnott, the director of ASH, said: "The smokefree legislation has been a fantastic success and is hugely popular. But what it also shows is a hunger for more action.

"There is still much more that needs to be done. The Government should focus on measures to shield children from tobacco industry marketing while parents and carers can do much more to protect children from exposure to secondhand smoke."

A survey of 1,000 people with lung conditions by the British Lung Foundation found more than half said they had suffered fewer attacks of breathlessness from exposure to smokers in pubs and restaurants, and more than a third said it had helped keep them out of hospital.

Source: The Independent, 30 June 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5f5drr

Editorial Article:
The birthday of the ban
Link: http://tinyurl.com/6zmelb

Related Article
Stephen Pound: I threw away my cigarettes the day after voting for the ban
Link: http://tinyurl.com/6hwsub

Also reported in:

Source: The Times Online,
Link: http://tinyurl.com/3srch5

Source: The Guardian, 30 June 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/43psma
 

Kids in cigarette sale shame

An investigation has found that sales of cigarettes to underage children have increased by 50 per cent in a year.

Trading standards officers across England got more than 2,300 16-year-olds to try to buy smokes from supermarket chains, off licences, petrol stations and newsagents.

Youngsters were rarely challenged when using a cigarette vending machine in a pub or club.

A fifth of 16-year-olds were sold packs over the counter at independent newsagents without being asked any questions or to provide ID.

One in 10 petrol stations, off licences and corner shops also broke the law.

The research was carried out for local government law enforcement body Lacors, which is now calling for a ban on vending machines. Chairman Geoffrey Theobald said: "This worrying increase shows that retailers aren't doing enough to make sure they do not sell cigarettes to children."

"This isn't rocket science. If they suspect someone is under age who cannot prove otherwise, then they must refuse to serve them or face the consequences."

Source: The Mirror, 30 June 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/3ea77j

Tobacco giant 'breaks youth code'

A British tobacco giant is breaking its own marketing code covering the sale of cigarettes to young people in Africa. 

An investigation for the BBC has found evidence in Nigeria, Malawi and Mauritius of rules being broken.

The company involved, British American Tobacco (BAT), says it does not encourage the sale of single "sticks".

During the investigation carried out for BBC Two's This World programme, British businessman Duncan Bannatyne also discovers tactics used by BAT which circumvent bans on advertising and raise the profile of cigarettes in countries where doctors are warning of a potential epidemic of smoking-related diseases.

In Malawi, the programme found evidence of the London-based tobacco firm providing sponsorship for a music event, which was held at a venue that had no formal age checks on the door. This breaks BAT's own marketing code.

Chris Proctor, head of science and Regulation at BAT, told the programme that: "If that was the case, that is disappointing, it's certainly not what we would wish to happen."

Celebrities had also appeared at the music event wearing Embassy and Pall Mall branded goods.

BAT's marketing code acknowledges that single cigarettes are particularly attractive to young people, who may not be able to afford a whole packet of cigarettes.

The company claims it does not promote the sale of single sticks on this basis. Yet in Mauritius, Mr Bannatyne discovers special pots which BAT has distributed to shops to make it easier for them to sell single cigarettes.

The programme features children as young as 11 who are buying the single cigarettes and are already developing a nicotine habit.

Dr Sunil Gunness, a cardiac surgeon in Mauritius, reports a huge rise in smoking-related diseases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that the number of smoking related deaths in Africa is 100,000 a year, but that that figure is set to double in the next 20 years.

The programme shows clear evidence of BAT flouting existing bans on advertising.

In Mauritius, where cigarette advertising is banned, BAT has painted shops the same colour as Matinee, one of their leading brands. One shopkeeper told the programme that BAT painted it for him to advertise its cigarettes three years ago. That is six years after the ban on advertising was introduced in 1999.

Mr Proctor conceded that the shops should not have been painted by BAT.

Duncan Bannatyne described BAT as "the unacceptable face of British Business".

Editorial Note: The programe, Bannatyne Takes on Big Tobacco is to be broadcast on Tuesday July 1st 9pm on BBC2

Source: BBC News, 28 June 2008  
Link: http://tinyurl.com/44dvgo

England's anniversary of smokefree law

The smoking ban is being hailed as the "single most important health measure for a generation" after record numbers gave up the habit last year. 

Ministers will use the anniversary of the smoking ban in England next week to publicise its success.

The report, to be officially published on the July 1 anniversary, also shows that 98 per cent of premises inspected complied with the smokefree legislation.

The report also shows that 76 per cent of people support the ban for workplaces and other public places while just three per cent of businesses reported a negative impact on trade.

Air quality in pubs and restaurants has also dramatically improved since July 1 last year. Pollution levels fell by 91 per cent inside pubs and restaurants after the ban and is "now comparable to outside air".

Bar workers had a 76 per cent reduction in nicotine levels.

In the foreword of the report, Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson says: "The significance of the smokefree laws cannot be underestimated.

"A significant reduction in secondhand smoke with its damaging health effects has been achieved. We expect many lives will have been saved. Everyone has the right to enjoy the benefits of a cleaner, healthier environment."

Amanda Sandford, of the campaigning charity Action on Smoking and Health, said: "This is great news."

Sir Liam said: "The smoking epidemic is far from solved. Tobacco kills 87,000 people annually in England alone. It remains the single greatest cause of preventable illness."

Source: The Mirror, 28 June 2008  
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5nfsun

WHO urges countries to adopt smoking bans

A World Health Organisation (WHO) report says smoking bans are an effective way of preventing heart disease, getting cigarette users to quit and protecting children from secondhand smoke.

The report by scientists at the WHO's International Agency for Cancer Research urged more countries to adopt smoking bans in public and at the workplace, saying there was enough evidence to prove they work, without hurting businesses such as restaurants and bars.

The researchers wrote in the Lancet Oncology special report that "Implementation of such policies can have a broader population effect of increasing smokefree environments."

"Not only do these policies achieve their aim of protecting the health of non-smokers by decreasing exposure to secondhand smoke, they also have many effects on smoking behaviour, which compound the health benefits."

Many local and national governments, mainly in Western nations, have enacted varying types of smoking bans in recent years to protect people from secondhand smoke.

A separate report issued by Cancer Research UK found England's ban adopted a year ago has spurred more smokers than ever to kick the habit, and predicted the restrictions would prevent 40,000 deaths over the next 10 years.

The researchers involved in the WHO report who included John Pierce of the University of California, San Diego, and Maria Leon at the International Agency for Cancer Research reviewed more than 900 studies and government reports looking at the impact of smoking bans across the world.

They cited studies that suggest smokefree workplaces have lead to a 10 to 20 percent decrease in hospital admissions for heart disease a year after a smoking ban.

Source: Reuters News, 30 June 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/6clpq2