Category: Harm Reduction

  • Trying to quit in Scotland

    Trying to quit in Scotland

    The number of people trying to quit smoking cigarettes has risen by 15 percent in a year in Glasgow, Scotland, according to a story by Caroline Wilson for the Evening Times.

    Wilson said new figures suggested the city was making inroads into some key health challenges.

    She quoted Glasgow’s director of public health, Dr. Linda de Caestecker, as saying smoking cessation services were now seeing “unprecedented numbers” of people trying to quit.

    At the same time, NHS [National Health Service] Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s weight management service had seen a five percent rise in referrals in the past year, while the number of people accessing a service that supported those with an alcohol dependence had increased to more than 5,200.

    “Health and wellbeing can be improved not just through medical interventions,” said de Caestecker.

    “By offering people access to a range of support services such as money advice, physical activity, weight management support, smoking cessation advice and alcohol interventions, we can ensure people maximise their health and wellbeing.

    “Doctors, nurses and therapists in our acute hospitals are routinely identifying patients and their families who are at risk of poverty or inequality and by working with community colleagues and third sector organisations providing families and individuals with the knowledge of where and how to access any additional support they need.”

    The board has seen a 79 percent increase in referrals for physical activity support with a large number referred from oncology, cardiac, respiratory and stroke services.

    Figures show there has been a 12 percent drop in smokers in Glasgow since Scotland introduced a ban on lighting up in public places.

    The smoking incidence has fallen from 37.5 percent to 25 percent, according to figures released by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde last year on the 10-year anniversary of a ban on smoking in public places.

  • Judge IQOS on science

    Judge IQOS on science

    The chief operating officer at the Truth Initiative, Dave Dobbins, has said the US Food and Drug Administration should review Philip Morris International’s toxicology tests and replicate them before approving its IQOS heated-tobacco system, according to a story by Lydia Wheeler for The Hill.

    PMI has two applications before the FDA. One is a Premarket Tobacco Application that was submitted on March 31 for its IQOS system with Marlboro Heatsticks, Marlboro Smooth Menthol Heatsticks and Marlboro Fresh Menthol Heatsticks; the Heatsticks comprising the consumable item. The FDA must approve the application before the products can be legally marketed and sold in the US.

    The other is a Modified Risk Tobacco Product application that was submitted in December to market the products as lower-risk.

    Dobbins said the tobacco industry had a history of questionable scientific practices over the years.

    “For example, the tobacco industry knew for years tobacco was addictive and deadly before they would admit it,” Wheeler quoted him as saying. It’s not impossible they could do something good; I’m more saying it’s important to verify their data.”

    Meanwhile, Corey Henry, a spokesman for PMI, said in an e-mail to The Hill that his company welcomed scrutiny of the product.

    ‘You don’t have to trust or believe us,’ he said. ‘You don’t have to take our word for it. But what we ask is that people have an open mind.’

    Wheeler’s piece is at: http://thehill.com/regulation/healthcare/347546-tobacco-giant-asks-the-fda-to-approve-less-risky-cigarette.

  • HNB tax hike closer

    HNB tax hike closer

    Multinational tobacco companies are decrying what they see as South Korea’s policy inconsistency as lawmakers are poised to pass a revised bill to hike taxes on heat-not-burn (HNB) devices, according to a story in The Korea Times.

    Philip Morris International Korea and British American Tobacco Korea said they had launched these smokeless cigarette devices in Korea believing that tax rates and other regulatory standards would remain unchanged for a considerable time.

    PMI Korea began selling IQOS in May while BAT Korea introduced Glo this month. Twenty-piece packs of the devices’ consumable items, HEETs in the case of IQOS and Neostiks in the case of Glo, are currently priced at 4,300 won ($3.77).

    A pack of 20 traditional tobacco cigarettes retails for 4,500 won.

    The two companies argue that the National Assembly’s move to raise excise taxes levied on a pack of 20 HNB sticks from the current 126 won to 594 won is unfair and makes it difficult for them to do business in Korea. Smokers pay a 594 won excise tax when they buy a pack of traditional tobacco cigarettes.

    They argue that consuming HNB sticks is less risky than is consuming traditional cigarettes; so it is not fair to impose the same level of taxes on both.

    On Tuesday, the National Assembly Strategy and Finance Subcommittee passed a bill revision to increase the excise tax on HNB sticks to 594 won. And both ruling and opposition parties are expected to approve the revision in a plenary session later this month. The change would then go into effect in September.

    The lawmakers are also considering a consumption tax and a health-promotion fee for HNB products, which would force PMI and BAT to raise the prices of HEETs and Neostiks to as high as 6,000 won a pack.

  • End-game restarted

    End-game restarted

    An independent member of the Legislative Council of Tasmania, Australia, has said he will seek to have banned the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 2000, according to a Mercury story by Blair Richards, relayed by the TMA.

    Ivan Dean said he would seek to bring about the ban by introducing an amendment to a current bill that seeks to regulate vapor products and require smoking cessation information at point-of-sale.

    Dean previously introduced legislation, called the Tobacco Free Generation Bill, which is still on the Legislative Council’s books.

    Kathryn Barnsley of SmokeFree Tasmania said the new measure “would provide a generational firebreak and protect our children and adolescents from these terrible diseases and death”.

    Meanwhile, Dean said he would seek also an amendment to extend the three-meter non-smoking area around schools and hospitals to 10 meters.

    Tasmania backed away from a proposal last year that would have raised the minimum tobacco-sales age from 21 to 25.

  • HNB tax increase coming

    HNB tax increase coming

    The government of South Korea looks set to raise the tax on heat-not-burn (HNB) products such as Phillip Morris’ IQOS and British American Tobacco’s Glo, according to a story in The Korea Times.

    Three lawmakers proposed the tax revision and the National Assembly Strategy and Finance Committee (SFC) said on Monday it would discuss the matter with relevant government agencies.

    SFC members reportedly agreed with the lawmakers that the tax on IQOS and Glo was too low because of the absence of a tax code for HNB products.

    They will seek to pass a relevant tax-code revision during a plenary session of the National Assembly on August 31 with the aim of its going into effect in September.

    The government has asked for the National Assembly’s co-operation in passing the revision during the upcoming plenary session because, otherwise, the revision will have to wait until the next plenary session in December, which, the government said, would be ‘too late’.

    Currently, a pack of Heets, the consumable item of the IQOS system, is sold at 4,300 won ($3.78) per pack, which includes 1,739.6 won in tax. A pack of traditional tobacco cigarettes meanwhile, sells for 4,500 won, which includes 3,323.4 won in tax.

    Two of the lawmakers who proposed the revision believe that the tax on HNB products should be the same as that on traditional cigarettes, while the other proposer believes the former should be less than the latter.

    Members of the strategy and finance committee are said to be trying to find middle ground.

    The story quoted an unspecified ‘official’ as saying that the tax rate was only a matter of how much.

    “Some said in other countries that the HNB e-cigarette is less harmful than general cigarette products so less tax should be imposed,” the official was quoted as saying. “But it’s not a decisive factor.

    “The National Assembly will eventually pass the revision.”

  • PMI supports FDA proposal

    PMI supports FDA proposal

    The chief executive of Philip Morris International has said he is “extremely encouraged” by the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recent proposal to lower nicotine levels in cigarettes and nudge smokers toward less harmful alternatives such as e-cigarettes, according to a story by Toni Clarke for Reuters.

    The FDA’s announcement was “one of the best articulated positions in many years”, Andre Calantzopoulos was quoted as saying during an interview on Monday.

    Calantzopoulos challenged the view of some tobacco control experts that the industry would fight the FDA’s proposal, in court if needed.

    He said that lowering nicotine levels was only one part of the proposed policy. The agency had acted also to make life easier for e-cigarette manufacturers.

    “I don’t think the issue requires litigation or anything of this nature,” Calantzopoulos said.

    “It requires dialogue in order to see what the feasibility is, and most importantly, how all these measures are phased in.”

    Clarke’s piece is at: http://www.euronews.com/2017/08/22/philip-morris-international-ceo-cheers-us-fda-tobacco-proposal.

  • FDA urged to ban menthol

    FDA urged to ban menthol

    Eight US senators have urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban sales of menthol cigarettes, according to a MassLive.com story relayed by the TMA.

    In a letter to the FDA, the senators urged the agency to ‘act on the substantial scientific data’ available by exercising its authority under the Tobacco Control Act to prohibit menthol-cigarette sales.

    The lawmakers praised the FDA for its work on discouraging youth smoking and raising public awareness of its harms.

    But they said menthol cigarettes were a ‘starter product for youth’ and that they posed ‘a public health risk above that seen with non-menthol cigarettes’.

    ‘Continued delay on this issue will only further worsen this public health crisis, as a new generation of smokers are initiated and become addicted to menthol cigarettes …,’ the senators said.

    ‘We urge the FDA to use its authority to expediently remove menthol as a flavor additive.’

  • Smoke-free in Kashmir

    Smoke-free in Kashmir

    The government of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has achieved a major success against tobacco with the Ladakh region’s Leh district having been declared a tobacco-free zone, according to a story by Samaan Lateef for the Chandigarh Tribune.

    With the aim of making Kashmir a smoke-free region, the Directorate of Health Services Kashmir (DHSK) under the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) started an anti-tobacco campaign in Leh early this year.

    “Due to mass awareness and meetings with civil society members, religious and women[’s] groups, we have been successful in making Leh a tobacco-free zone,” Dr. Rehana Kousar, who is in-charge of the NTCP, Kashmir, reportedly told The Tribune.

    However, Kousar said a major success was achieved because of the involvement of women in the anti-tobacco campaign. “The Women’s Alliance is a strong lobby for social change in Leh and its members made the difference in making the region free of tobacco,” she said.

    The department had conducted more than 30 awareness camps in schools to ensure the campaign had a long-term impact on Leh society, Kousar said.

    And she added that tobacco vendors had been ‘sanitized to stop the sale of tobacco, particularly to minors and around schools’.

    According to official data, the incidence of tobacco use in J&K is 26.6 percent, a figure that is said to include cigarette smokers (12.0 percent) and bidi smokers (3.8 percent).

    Of the total tobacco users, 41.6 percent are men and 10.3 percent are women.

    The average age at the daily initiation of tobacco use is 17.3 years.

    Spurred on by the success in Leh, the health department is all set to replicate the campaign in other districts.

    DHSK director Dr Saleem-ur Rehman said the anti-tobacco campaign would cover other areas for which public support was needed. “It is not only assignment and motivation of enforcement agencies, but ensuring public awareness and political will to ensure [a] tobacco-free Kashmir,” Rehman said.

  • Asthma, COPD treatable

    Asthma, COPD treatable

    Although the number of cases of asthma has increased worldwide since 1990, fewer people are dying from the condition, according to an IrishHealth.com story citing a new Global Burden of Disease study that looked at the impact of the two most common respiratory diseases worldwide, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, between 1990 and 2015.

    The study found that while the number of cases of asthma increased by 12 percent during this period, from 318 million in 1990 to 358 million in 2015, the number of deaths from the disease fell during the same period by just more than 26 percent, from 550,000 to 400,000.

    Asthma is the world’s most common chronic respiratory disease, followed by COPD. However, while there are twice as many cases of asthma as there are of COPD, the death rate from COPD is eight times higher than the death rate from asthma.

    COPD is an umbrella term for chronic lung disorders, including bronchitis and emphysema. It is a progressive, disabling condition caused by a narrowing of the airways.

    The study found that the number of cases of COPD increased by 44 percent between 1990 and 2015, while the number of deaths increased by more than 11 percent, from 2.8 million deaths in 1990 to 3.2 million in 2015.

    The researchers said that many cases of both conditions continued to be left undiagnosed, misdiagnosed or under-treated, even though both conditions could often be treated or prevented with affordable interventions.

    The researchers said the main risk factors for COPD were smoking and air pollution, followed by household air pollution, occupational risk (such as asbestos and diesel fumes), ozone and second-hand smoke.

    They said there needed to be more public health interventions to reduce air pollution and further reduce global smoking rates.

    Meanwhile, the study said that while the causes of asthma were less clear, they included smoking and asthma-causing allergens experienced in the workplace.

    The researchers called for more studies into both conditions and said that both needed clearer definitions.

    The full story is at: http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=25882.

  • Graphic images defended

    Graphic images defended

    The EU Commission has ruled out the possibility that any of the graphic warnings appearing on tobacco products sold within the EU could contain the pictures of people who haven’t given their consent for their images to be used in this way.

    The Commission was replying to three questions raised by the Danish member of the EU parliament, Christel Schaldemose.

    In a preamble to her questions, Schaldemose said that on June 15 the Danish local newspaper Folketidende had reported the story of a distraught woman who believed she could recognise her late husband in one of the pictures introduced under the 2014 Tobacco Products Directive. And there had been instances of similar stories from other member states.

    ‘The Commission has in the past given assurances that any similarity to other persons who have not given their consent is purely coincidental, but nonetheless the pictures are distressing for those affected,’ she said.

    Schaldemose then asked:

    1. ‘Can the Commission guarantee that everyone depicted has given their consent to the use of the pictures for this specific purpose under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation?
    2. ‘In the Commission’s view, do the pictures give rise to ethical concerns vis-à-vis the bereaved who believe they can recognise their late family members?
    3. ‘Does the Commission have any plans to replace those pictures which raise doubts about the identity of the person depicted?’

    In what appeared to be a utilitarian defense of its position, the Commission said that tobacco was the biggest cause of preventable death in the EU and picture health warnings had been proven to be extremely effective in preventing smoking uptake and encouraging people to quit.

    ‘The Commission would like to assure that it has taken great care to ensure that the production of the photographic images used as pictorial health warnings has been carefully documented and that all individuals depicted in the library of health warnings set out in Annex II to the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) were fully informed of the use of their image and gave their consent to such use,’ the Commission said. ‘The information on the development of the pictorial health warnings is available on the Commission website.

    ‘While the Commission has the utmost sympathy for individuals who genuinely believe that persons depicted on the tobacco packages are family members, and to whom the pictures might have inadvertently caused distress, the Commission underlines that any claim according to which the image of an individual would have been used without his or her consent is unfounded.

    ‘There are no plans to update the picture library in the very near future. However, the TPD foresees the possibility to adapt the text and picture warnings based on scientific and market developments.’