Thursday 22 December 2011 The world’s four biggest cigarette companies have dropped their legal challenge to the Government’s ban on displaying tobacco products in shops in England. Responding to the news, ASH Chief Executive Deborah Arnott said: “What a wonderful Christmas present from the tobacco industry. This will bring festive cheer to all those working […]
Read MoreThursday 15 December 2011 The Government has announced today that the public consultation on tobacco packaging that was due to take place by the end of this year has been put back to Spring 2012. Although the delay is disappointing, ASH is pleased that the Department of Health is working hard to ensure that the […]
Read MoreThursday 03 November 2011 A report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has uncovered a major smuggling operation in the Middle East initiated by Japan Tobacco International (JTI) to introduce its own brands into new markets. [1] This is despite a binding legal Agreement with the European Union to stamp out the […]
Read MoreTuesday 20 September 2011 Three new studies in the current issue of Thorax published today provide good evidence that smoking in films leads to British children taking up smoking. [1] This is backed up by increasing international evidence that exposure to smoking in films is a major cause of smoking experimentation and uptake among young […]
Read MoreWednesday 29 June 2011 On the fourth anniversary of England’s smokefree law, new figures show that public support for the measure remains high with 78% of the population in favour of the law. Significantly, almost half of all smokers (47%) support the law. [1] The survey complements an independent Government-commissioned review of the impact of […]
Read MoreThursday 16 June 2011 ASH Chief Executive Deborah Arnott was presented with an award from the World Health Organization by the Minister for Public Health, Anne Milton at an event to mark the charity’s 40th anniversary, yesterday. At a special meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, Ms Milton presented the […]
Read MoreFriday 10 June 2011 Tobacco companies have a long history of misleading politicians and the public but a new report from Action on Smoking and Health reveals that companies trying to block new health regulations are also misleading shareholders. [1] The report called “Tobacconomics” shows how shareholders at the Imperial Tobacco Annual General Meeting were […]
Read MoreTuesday 31 May 2011 A legally binding treaty [1] to curb the devastating global tobacco epidemic has had amazing successes since its implementation six years ago, yet but more could be achieved if lobbying activity by the tobacco industry to undermine the treaty was curtailed, said ASH to mark World No Tobacco Day 2011. [2] […]
Read MoreThursday 28 April 2011 The Rt Hon Kevin Barron MP, former Chair of the Health Select Committee and past Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, will be questioning BAT’s Chairman Richard Burrow today about the company’s lobbying activities around the tobacco point of sale legislation and about BAT’s marketing activities […]
Read MoreWednesday 27 April 2011 The new Government strategy launched today with increased funding for tackling tobacco smuggling is a positive step forward. [1] However, ASH and the public health community are concerned that no objectives have been set for the reduction in smuggling to be achieved in return for this new investment. ASH is also […]
Read MoreWednesday 23 March 2011 ASH welcomes the decision by the Chancellor to maintain the tax escalator introduced by the previous Government by raising cigarette duty by 2% above inflation. [1] ASH is particularly pleased that the Chancellor has heeded the recommendation of health groups to change the tax structure in order to narrow the gap […]
Read MoreSaturday 19 March 2011 A submission to the Treasury in advance of next week’s Budget by ASH and the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies (UKCTCS) endorsed by 68 health organisations has urged the government to stick to its principles and increase taxation on tobacco well above inflation. [1] Putting prices up through taxation is, […]
Read MoreWednesday 09 March 2011 ASH welcomes the new Tobacco Plan, which sets concrete ambitions for a reduction in smoking amongst adults, children and pregnant women. Despite heavy lobbying by the tobacco industry the Government has refused to repeal the legislation to put tobacco out of sight, although a delay in implementation of 6 months for […]
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