Category: People

Asia’s vapers unite
Vapers and vaping advocates from Asian countries last week gathered in Jakarta, Indonesia, to call on their governments to allow and regulate the use of electronic cigarettes and heat-not-burn (HNB) devices, according to a story by Roderick T. dela Cruz in the Manila Standard.
The 1st Asia Harm Reduction Forum was held at the Shangri-La Hotel, Jakarta, on November 8-9.
Professor Achmad Syawqie Yazid, chief of the Yayasan Pemerhati Kesehatan Publik (Public Health Observer Foundation, YPKP) of Indonesia, which organized the forum, said that almost half of the world’s 1.1 billion smokers lived in Asia, with India and Indonesia having among the biggest populations of smokers globally.
Thousands died each day in these countries due to complications related to smoking, such as heart disease and cancer.
One of the major health problems in Indonesia was caused by its extremely high cigarette consumption. In fact, the smoking rate in Indonesia, where more than 57 million people smoked, was one of the highest in the world.
Despite the best efforts of public health officials in fighting the cigarette smoking epidemic in the region, smoking rates had stopped declining, Yazid says.
“This condition motivates us, public health observers in Asia, to immediately seek for the most efficient solutions to mitigate the risks of burning tobacco,” he said. “Countries in Asia need to take actions.”
Yazid said one of the most efficient solutions was to introduce alternative tobacco products with lower health risks such as nicotine patches, Swedish snus, e-cigarettes and HNB devices.
“In countries that promote the use of electronic cigarettes and heat-not-burn tobacco products such as Japan and the UK, smoking prevalence has been declining at a record speed,” he said.
“In the UK for example, 2.2 million smokers have quit smoking within five years.
“Japan has the world’s fastest decline in cigarette use, since two years ago.
“The US FDA [Food and Drug Administration] just announced this year that its anti-tobacco regulation will be fully geared towards harm reduction while New Zealand Ministry of Health just endorsed this month the use of electronic cigarettes,” said Yazid.
The full story is at: http://thestandard.com.ph/business/biz-plus/251492/asians-seek-less-harmful-alternatives-to-smoking.html.
November 13, 2017
Topless protest
A recent meeting of the Hamptons Health and Safety Board (HHSB) was disrupted when a large group of angry motorists arrived to protest against recently extended restrictions on smoking, according to a story in Dan’s Papers, Southampton, New York, US. The Hamptons police department was called in to keep the meeting from getting out of hand.
At issue for the protestors was a new rule banning smoking in ‘topless’ cars.
“When I initially read about the ban, I thought it must be a misprint – I thought they were probably eliminating smoking in topless bars, not topless cars!” Randy Talbac, head of a local smokers’ rights group, was said to have told the assembled meeting. “And since there aren’t any topless bars that I know of in the area, I wasn’t too upset. But then it turned out it really was about cars – convertibles, that is – and it’s outrageous.”
The ban on smoking in cars with no tops, whether they are convertibles with the roof down or jeep-type vehicles that have no tops, was said to have come about as a measure to cut down on second-hand smoke exposure.
Christopher Escopillo, the co-chair of the HHSB, explained the genesis of the new rule. “We were getting a lot of concerned citizens coming to us, explaining how they would be sitting in Hamptons traffic behind some guy in a sporty convertible, with his top down, puffing on some big, noxious stogie,” he said. “From their point of view, they are forced to inhale unhealthy air for however long they’re stuck behind the guy. So we decided it was up to the HHSB to do something about it.”
Talbac and his supporters were not impressed by this reasoning, and for a while the situation looked like it might turn violent.
In the end, however, cooler heads prevailed, and Talbac vowed to return with a lawyer and fight the new rule in court.
November 13, 2017
E-cigs – what’s not to like?
Switching from cigarettes to vaping products saves US users an average of about $1,500 a year, according to a story by Laura Kelly for the Washington Times, citing the results of an online poll of daily electronic-cigarette users.
Packs of cigarettes range in price from around $6 to $14 depending on the state and their taxes, and ‘heavy smokers’ were said to consume a pack a day.
Users who switched to e-cigarettes reported saving an average of $1,416.60 a year, according to the online poll conducted by LendEDU, an online marketplace that helps students refinance their loans.
The poll surveyed 1,000 vapers and asked them to gauge how much money they spent on their vaping products and if they saved money by making the switch.
At least 71 percent responded that switching to vaping had helped them save money, while 19.6 percent said it hadn’t helped them save money and 9.4 percent said they didn’t use traditional tobacco products previously.
Respondents said they typically spent $80 on a one-time purchase of a vape device and around $60 on vaping consumables per month. On top of these purchases, between $6 and $9 was spent each month on unspecified things related to vaping.
November 13, 2017
Still working with farmers
British American Tobacco says that its commitment to working to enable prosperous livelihoods for all farmers who supply its leaf tobacco is the focus of its latest report: Sustainable Agriculture and Farmer Livelihoods.
‘This new report provides an overview of how BAT invests over £60 million each year in advancing sustainable agriculture, through its global leaf research and development, and supporting farmers through a network of expert field technicians,’ BAT said in a note posted on its website today.
‘It also shows how the group is managing and monitoring supply chain risks and opportunities through global programs; and how it is working in multi-stakeholder partnerships, including the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing (ECLT) Foundation, to solve complex problems and long-term issues in farming communities.’
Chief executive Nicandro Durante was quoted as saying that BAT had been working in partnership with tobacco farmers for more than a century. “Over that time, we’ve evolved our approach to take advantage of new opportunities, focused on creating value for the future of our business and the farmers we work with,” he said.
“We understand that there are many challenges facing agriculture and rural communities, so our work also includes multi-stakeholder projects that aim to enhance livelihoods, protect human rights and lessen the environmental impacts of agriculture.”
The press note then went on to say that leaf tobacco remained at the core of BAT’s products, so the farmers who grew it were at the heart of its supply chain.
‘British American Tobacco sources tobacco leaf from 350,000+ farmers in 34 countries, which includes 90,000+ directly contracted by BAT leaf operations and 260,000+ contracted by our third-party suppliers,’ the press note said.
‘This report provides an in-depth look at how BAT is implementing its sustainable agriculture objectives to ensure the continued success and long-term security of our business and, crucially, to fulfilling our role in wider society to support farmers and their communities, now and in the future.’
The press note said that highlights of the report included:
- ‘A viewpoint from Alan Davy, BAT’s group operations director, in which he responds to challenging questions and explains why supporting sustainable agriculture remains such a priority.
- ‘An independent stakeholder viewpoint from Professor Dr. Heiko Hosomi Spitzeck, director of the Center for Sustainability at Fundação Dom Cabral, Brazil, which has been recognised as the best business school in Latin America for 11 consecutive years by the Financial Times.
- ‘Information on BAT’s Global Leaf R&D which develops improved seed varieties to increase farmers’ yields by up to 20 percent, as well as new and innovative sustainable farming technologies, such as drip irrigation which increases water efficiency by up to 90 percent.
- ‘Details of BAT’s global Thrive program which takes a holistic and collaborative approach to identifying and addressing long-term challenges that have an impact on the livelihoods of farming communities and the sustainability of agriculture.
- ‘Since 2011, through the work of the industry’s ECLT Foundation, 162,000 children have been removed or kept away from child labour and 455,000 community members have been reached through awareness-raising activities.
- ‘The company’s Florece child labour prevention program in Mexico, in partnership with the government and other local stakeholders, which has helped 14,400 children since 2001.
- ‘100 years of supporting farmers in Brazil and UN recognition for the company’s program to inspire a new generation of Brazilian farmers.
- ‘75,000 beneficiaries in 19,000 rural families who have been empowered through the Sustainable Agriculture Development Programme in Sri Lanka.
- ’75 million trees planted through a long-standing afforestation program in Pakistan, and 78,000 Pakistanis in rural communities treated for free each year by Mobile Doctor Units.
- ‘The results of an independent impact measurement study of the company’s community programs in Bangladesh, which found that its water filtration units have reduced the number of people suffering from waterborne diseases, from 32 percent down to 0.3 percent.’
The report is at: www.bat.com/sustainabilityfocus.
November 13, 2017
Row over ILO tobacco funds
Japan Tobacco International has said it commends the governing body of the International Labour Organization (ILO) for postponing its decision on the continuation of the ILO’s partnerships with the tobacco sector in the fight against child labor.
‘ARISE (Achieving Reduction in Child Labor in Support of Education), JTI’s current public private partnership with the ILO, has proven that the most efficient approach is a co-ordinated one involving all areas of expertise,’ JTI said in a note posted on its website and issued through PRNewswire.
“Together, we have already withdrawn thousands of children from child labor since its launch in 2011,” said Elaine McKay, global leaf social programs director at JTI.
“The issues involved are much more complex than the over-simplified view portrayed by the FCTC [World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control] secretariat and anti-tobacco activists, who are more concerned about the source of funding than fighting child labor.
“It is now crucial that the governing body assesses this misdirected pressure on the social mandate of the ILO, and understands fully what is at stake – the future of tobacco growing communities – before reaching a consensus.”
According to an ABC report, relayed by the TMA, ILO spokesman, Hans von Rohland, corrected an earlier report that the agency would end their PPPs and stop accepting funding from the tobacco industry to combat child labor.
The agency apparently issued a revised, one-point decision saying its governing body had instructed its director-general to present an ‘integrated ILO strategy to address decent work deficits in the tobacco sector’ at its next meeting in March.
In an email to reporters yesterday, von Rohland said, ‘We sent you the wrong version of the decision taken by the ILO governing body on ILO co-operation with the tobacco industry’.
The ABC said the ILO had received more than $15 million through partnerships that aimed to fight child labor, and, in doing so, had attracted criticism from anti-tobacco groups that it was the only UN agency that still collaborated with the tobacco industry.
The row over tobacco funding seems to have arisen not so much because of the source of the ILO funding, however, but because some people see one of the root cause of child labor in tobacco production as being endemic poverty among tobacco producers – poverty brought about by the generally-low prices paid to these producers by the tobacco industry.
Meanwhile, the ECLT (Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing) foundation, in a press note headed, ILO to develop strategy to address decent work in tobacco, said the ILO’s governing body had concluded the discussion regarding the collaboration between the organisation and the tobacco industry by calling on the director-general to develop ‘an integrated ILO strategy to address decent work deficits in the tobacco sector’ while ‘taking into account all views expressed in the current session’ [ECLT quote marks].
‘The integrated strategy, to be developed and presented at the governing body session in March 2018, will have significant impact on the realisation of the legal and human rights of the children and families of more than 40 million tobacco farmers in over 120 countries worldwide,’ the ECLT’s press note said.
‘The ECLT foundation renews its commitment to these children, their families, and their communities. The foundation will continue to advocate for strong policies in both government and private sector, which evolve into laws and responsible business practices that keep children out of labor and promote decent work, in line with international legal frameworks including ILO Conventions 138, 182 and 184.
‘Through our efforts directly in tobacco-growing communities, the ECLT foundation has seen concrete results, which are maximised by working in partnership to find collaborative solutions for the systemic causes of child labour. Therefore, the foundation seeks to engage all relevant stakeholders, even those with differing views, on how to bring about sustainable social change for the children and communities we serve.
‘ECLT will continue to prioritize impact and transparency for all of its work, as well as continuing research while sharing best practices and effective models to increase our global efforts to accelerate the transformation of agricultural communities, for the ultimate benefit of children, farmers and their families.’
November 10, 2017
Vatican to ban sales
Cigarette sales are due to be banned in the Vatican City State from next year, according to a story by Gaia Pianigiani for the New York Times quoting a Vatican spokesman.
Cigarettes are sold through duty-free shops reserved for employees and citizens of the Vatican City.
According to a 2015 book based on leaked Vatican documents, cardinals are entitled to a discount on up to 200 packs a month. The Vatican said employees could purchase a maximum of 50 packs a month.
Selling discounted tobacco to employees and pensioners without the increasingly stringent taxes imposed in surrounding Italy, has long been a source of revenue for the Vatican City State. And many people in Rome have bought cigarettes through acquaintances at the Vatican.
But it is all coming to an end. “The Holy See cannot contribute to an activity that clearly damages the health of people,” the spokesman, Greg Burke, said in a statement, citing World Health Organization figures that smoking causes seven million deaths a year.
The sales had been profitable for the Vatican, he said, but “no profit can be legitimate if it puts lives at risk”.
November 10, 2017
England to quit by 2040
A new report forecasts that the UK government is on track to meet its smoke-free target for England by about 2040, where smoke-free is defined as a smoking prevalence among adults of five percent or lower.
This forecast is based on a continuation of above-inflation excise increases and known regulatory interventions.
The report, Working towards a smoke-free England, was prepared for Philip Morris Ltd by Frontier Economics.
Frontier forecast, too, that if smoking continued to decline at the same rate after 2040, it would be eliminated by about 2051.
‘Smoking is in long-run decline, but since 2012 it has declined at more than twice the rate seen between 1993 and 2011,’ Frontier said in a note posted on its website. ‘Smokers switching to e-cigarettes appear to have made a material contribution to that recent trend.
‘We anticipate that the faster decline in smoking since 2012 will not continue indefinitely. In part this is because the growth of e-cigarettes is now slowing. Data from ASH indicates that there were only 100,000 new vapers in 2017, compared with 800,000 in 2014.
‘The government’s target of reducing smoking to below five percent could be met as soon as 2029 if the faster rate of decline since 2012 were maintained. If that trend continued further, smoking would be eliminated in England by 2035.
‘Meeting this target by 2029 would require an additional 2.5 million smokers to quit over and above those we already expect to quit in our central forecast. This is equivalent to around 210,000 extra quitters each year.
‘This would require significant changes, such as:
- A rapid increase in the number of smokers switching to smoke-free alternatives, including e-cigarettes; and/or
- Reversing the decline in smokers quitting through NHS Stop Smoking services, which decreased to 40,000 in 2016 from a peak of 100,000 in 2011; and/or
- Finding other new and effective ways to persuade smokers to quit.’
The report is at: http://www.frontier-economics.com/documents/2017/11/frontier-report_working-towards-smoke-free-england_nov-2017.pdf
November 9, 2017
Health as a broader church
A leading libertarian writer is due to address a dinner in Brussels next week on the subject: ‘Is health the new religion?’.
Hosted by the smokers’ group Forest EU on November 14, the event will ask the following questions:
- Should people be nudged or forced to change their lifestyle in their own best interests and that of the nation, or should they be left alone?
- What role does government and business have to play in improving our health?
- Are current regulations on legal but potentially unhealthy consumer products justified, and should they go further?
Guest speaker Claire Fox is director of the London-based Institute of Ideas and a regular panelist on BBC Radio 4’s The Moral Maze. She convenes the annual Battle of Ideas festival and is author of a recent book on free speech, I Find That Offensive.
Speaking ahead of the event, Claire Fox said it could sometimes feel as though a new secular religious fervor had taken hold in terms of an obsessive public health agenda.
“Behavior modification may have changed its form but guilt-inducing campaigns against smoking, drinking and so-called junk food are pursued with missionary zeal, suggesting that health paternalism is the new religion.
“Sadly this new shift lacks any chance of redemption as it relentlessly pursues evidence-lite policies that too often treat adults as hapless children who need saving from themselves.
“The nanny state invades even the most intimate aspects of how people live their lives, from what they feed their kids to how they spend their leisure time.”
Meanwhile, Guillaume Périgois, spokesman for Forest EU, said there was a rigid evangelism about the public health lobby that was moving swiftly from tobacco control to other areas, notably food and drink.
“People who allegedly abuse their bodies by smoking, drinking or eating the ‘wrong’ type of food are increasingly characterised as sinners compared to those who keep fit, eat healthily and don’t smoke or drink.
“Many people are concerned at the extent to which government is trying to dictate how we live our lives.”
It was time for a proper debate on an issue that had serious repercussions for individual freedom, he added.
November 8, 2017
Universal’s volume sales up
In reporting Universal Corporation’s results for the six months to the end of September, chairman, president, and CEO, George C. Freeman, III, said that during the second half of the company’s current fiscal year, sales of its African tobaccos would be impacted by reduced Burley production volumes in Africa, which mainly shipped in the third and fourth fiscal quarters.
“Less African Burley leaf was grown this fiscal year due to excess production and low grower prices in fiscal year 2017 and unfavorable weather conditions this fiscal year,” he was quoted as saying.
“Although we still expect our total shipments to be weighted to the second half of the fiscal year, we currently anticipate modestly lower total lamina sales volumes for fiscal year 2018.
“We are estimating that this fiscal year’s global Burley production declines will recover in next year’s crop.”
Meanwhile, Universal reported that net income for the six months ended September 30, was $29.7 million, or $1.16 per diluted share, compared with $19.8 million, or $0.54 per diluted share for the same period of the previous fiscal year.
Operating income for the six months ended September 30, of $51.5 million, was increased by $16.2 million on that of the first half of the previous fiscal year.
“Our results for the six months ended September 30, 2017, were in line with our expectations and reflected slightly higher total sales volumes and lower selling, general, and administrative costs,” said Freeman.
“In our second fiscal quarter, we continued to see the benefits of higher current crop sales and processing volumes and lower factory unit costs from the recovery in leaf production volumes this year in Brazil.”
November 8, 2017
Tax increase ‘effective’
The cigarette tax- and price-hike that was imposed in South Korea at the beginning of 2015 has been effective in discouraging smoking amongst low-income earners and young people, but not in the case of high-income earners, according to a story in The Korea Herald citing the results of a public health and nutrition survey by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
An increase in taxes in January 2015 took the price of cigarettes from 2,500 won to 4,500 won.
The survey found that the smoking rate among low-income males fell from 45.9 percent in 2014 to 40.6 percent the following year, but increased in 2016 to 41.1 percent.
“There were claims that the cigarette price hike will increase the burden of ordinary people whose smoking rate is comparatively higher,” a ministry official was quoted as saying. “The effect of making people quit smoking was definitely clear among people who have less money.”
The smoking rate among middle- and high-school ‘boys’ fell from 14.0 percent in 2014 to 11.9 percent in 2015 and to 9.5 percent in 2016 and 2017.
For high-income earners, the smoking rate fell from 38.2 percent in 2014 to 35.9 percent in 2015 but increased to 38.5 percent in 2016.
Meanwhile, the ministry said the number of people enrolling in programs to quit smoking had gone from 450,000 in 2014 to 870,000 the following year. Last year, 830,000 people enrolled.
November 7, 2017