Category: People

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.
August 21, 2017
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.’
August 18, 2017
Movie smokescreen
For many people, removing smoking scenes from movies is like removing scenes where people take a bus. Smoking or taking a bus are two of the things that people do and therefore in showing these actions film makers are merely depicting life. The trouble is that the evidence indicates that showing teenagers such scenes makes them start to smoke and, presumably, take buses. But in an opinion piece on the washingtonexaminer.com website, Guy Bentley, who is a consumer freedom research associate at the Reason Foundation, disputes that there is any such evidence.
Some public health myths, he writes, no matter how absurd or consistently refuted, just refuse to die a dignified death.
One of the most pervasive is the claim that the more teens see tobacco in movies the more likely they are to pick up smoking. Every time a new study comes out documenting tobacco use on the big screen, a minor panic ensues.
Such a report, released last month, showed the use or implied use of tobacco in top-grossing movies rose 72 percent from 2010 to 2016. In PG-13 movies these “tobacco incidents” rose 43 percent, and there was a 90 percent increase for R-rated movies. (It should be noted the researchers decided to include e-cigarettes in their category of tobacco incidents, despite e-cigarettes containing zero tobacco).
The study garnered extensive media coverage, with almost all outlets taking it as gospel that this was an issue of public concern. Claims there is a wealth of strong evidence suggesting scenes featuring tobacco in movies actually cause teens to smoke went repeated without question.
Later in his piece, Bentley says that the fundamental problem with the research underpinning this evidence is that it is impossible to establish a causal relationship between seeing tobacco on screen and smoking while controlling for other factors.
Bentley’s piece is at: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/a-myth-that-wont-die-movies-cause-teen-smoking/article/2631562.
August 18, 2017
Mini-tender targets BAT
British American Tobacco has recommended that stockholders reject a mini-tender offer by TRC Capital Corporation.
In a news release issued yesterday, BAT said it had been notified of an unsolicited ‘mini-tender’ offer by TRC Capital Corporation (TRC) to purchase up to 2,000,000 American Depositary Shares (ADSs), or about 0.087 percent of the outstanding issued ordinary shares of BAT (excluding treasury shares) as at the close of business on August 16, at a price of $60.13 per ADS in cash. Each ADS represents one ordinary share of BAT.
‘TRC’s offer price is approximately 4.42 percent less than the closing price of BAT’s ADSs on 11 August 2017, the day before the mini-tender offer commenced,’ BAT said in its release.
‘BAT does not endorse TRC’s mini-tender offer and recommends that BAT ADS holders do not tender their ADSs in response to the offer because it is a mini-tender offer at a price below the market price for BAT ADSs (as of the date BAT received notice of the offer) and is subject to numerous conditions.
‘According to TRC’s offer documents, BAT ADS holders who have already tendered their shares may withdraw their ADSs at any time prior to 12:01 a.m. New York City time, on Wednesday, 13 September 2017, the expiration date set forth in the offer documents (unless extended), by following the procedures described in the offer documents…’
The full BAT release with links to information about mini-tenders is at: http://www.bat.com/group/sites/UK__9D9KCY.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DOAQBCNN.
August 18, 2017
Zimbabwe’s sales close
Zimbabwe’s flue-cured-tobacco sales-season has ended with grower prices on about US$2.97 per kg, according to a story in The New Zimbabwe.
The average price was up by about US$0.03 per kg, or one percent, on that of both 2015 and 2016, US$2.94 per kg.
But it was down significantly on the 2008 average price of US$3.24 per kg.
Volume sales this season, at 185.6 million kg, were said to be down by 7.3 percent on those of the previous season, due to unhelpful weather.
The target for this season had been 215 million kg.
The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) said growers had been paid $551 million for their tobacco.
In February, the Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union said it expected flue-cured tobacco prices to be ‘favorable’ this year.
The quality of the crop was said to be excellent and so grower prices, which buyers say are based on quality, should have been excellent also.
At that time, growers believed that prices ranging between US$4.00 and US$5.00 per kg would be favorable.
Such prices, they said, would allow them to break even and to continue producing flue-cured tobacco next season.
August 17, 2017
Litigation launched in China
A woman in China has brought a lawsuit against the Harbin Railway Bureau that aims to have smoking on regular trains and station platforms banned, according to a GBTIMES story quoting a report in The Paper.
The Beijing Railway and Transport Court has accepted the case and the trial is scheduled to begin on August 24.
It is the first such lawsuit brought by a Chinese citizen against the authorities.
The story said that the woman, Li Yan (not her real name), was surprised to find a regular K1301 train she was travelling on between Beijing and Tianjin filled with cigarette smoke on June 9.
She noticed that many passengers and train staff were smoking in the smoking area of the train, which was under the supervision of the Harbin Railway Bureau, resulting in non-smoking passengers being subjected to second-hand smoke.
After what was described as an unpleasant journey, Li wrote letters of complaint to the National Railway Bureau and the Health and Family Planning Commissions of Beijing and Tianjin, but each of them replied that they were not responsible for the banning of smoking on trains.
Li then launched the lawsuit to ban smoking specifically on the K1301 train, as well as on the platforms of Beijing and Tianjin railway stations.
She wants also all smoking areas and paraphernalia to be removed, and she wants compensation for her ticket and a gauze mask used to reduce both her smoke inhalation and anguish. The total monetary claim comes to US$18.30.
According to the relevant regulations of Beijing and Tianjin, both cities prohibit smoking in indoor public places.
Meanwhile, all high-speed trains in China have banned passengers from lighting up, though there are designated smoking areas aboard regular trains that travel at less than 160 kilometres per hour.
August 17, 2017
Warning on Thailand
A UK travel agent is urging others to tell their customers not to vape in Thailand where they could face up to 10 years in prison for doing so, according to a story by Ravneet Ahluwalia for the independent.co.uk.
Pat Waterton, manager at Langley Travel, was quoted as saying that she had been unaware of Thailand’s ban on the possession of vaping devices until her nephew was forced to pay £125 as an on-the-spot fine after being threatened with jail for possessing an e-cigarette in Bangkok.
“If I’m selling Thailand I will definitely mention it now,” said Waterton. “All agents should. Thailand is very popular so we should make sure we are telling people about things that could ruin a holiday.”
Ahluwalia wrote that in November 2014, Thailand had approved legislation outlawing the import of e-cigarettes into the country. This had since been expanded to the export as well as the sale of e-smoking devices and equipment.
Although it was common to see people vaping in Thailand, offenders were technically breaking the law as possession was illegal, said Ahluwalia.
On its website, the UK Foreign Office advises travellers not to take vaporisers such as e-cigarettes or refills into Thailand.
‘These items are likely to be confiscated and you could be fined or sent to prison for up to 10 years if convicted,’ the Foreign Office says.
‘The sale or supply of e-cigarettes and similar devices is also banned and you could face a heavy fine or up to five years imprisonment if found guilty. Several British Nationals have been arrested for possession of vaporisers and e-cigarettes.’
August 17, 2017
Barred from selling tobacco
Twelve retailers in Singapore have had their tobacco retail licenses suspended and one has had its license revoked after they were caught selling cigarettes to people under the age of 18, according to a Today story quoting the Health Sciences Authority (HSA).
Value Supermart, at 301 Serangoon Avenue 2, had its license revoked after it was caught selling cigarettes to a 17-year-old in school uniform.
Under Singapore law, retailers caught selling cigarettes to minors have their tobacco retail license suspended for six months for the first offence and revoked on the second offence.
However, any outlet caught selling tobacco products to people under 18 and wearing school uniform, or those under 12 years of age, have their license revoked even for a first offence.
Meanwhile, 12 other outlets have been suspended from selling tobacco products for six months after they were caught selling cigarettes to minors who were not in school uniform.
All 13 retailers, which were first-time offenders, did not ask for any form of identification when they sold cigarettes to minors, claiming that they were busy or that the minors looked older than they were, the HSA said.
The HSA has suspended the tobacco retail licenses of 53 outlets and revoked those of nine others since 2015.
‘Sellers take the risk of contravening the laws if they assess age by mere physical appearance of the buyer,’ the authority said.
August 16, 2017
Social smokers warned
A new study has found that those who enjoy an occasional cigarette in social situations risk developing similar levels of heart-disease precursors as a person who smokes a pack or more a day, according to a Times Leader (Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania) piece by Dr. Bernadette Melnyk of the Department of Nursing, Ohio State University.
Melnyk said that the study she conducted with other nursing and health services researchers was the first population health study to compare the blood pressure and cholesterol levels of people who self-identified as current versus social smokers.
The study of nearly 40,000 people conducted over a four-year period as part of the Ohio State University’s Million Hearts educational program identified non-smokers, current regular smokers and those who said they were ‘social smokers’, meaning they didn’t have a cigarette every day.
The researchers collected deidentified data from volunteers who completed Million Hearts cardiovascular screenings. After taking into account demographic and physical differences between the regular and social smokers, they found there was virtually no difference in their risk of experiencing hypertension or high cholesterol, conditions that frequently lead to heart disease.
‘I believe that this is one of the most important findings in tobacco-related health in years, and it brings to light an issue, like e-cigarettes and second-hand smoke, that we in the health care field must address with urgency,’ Melnyk said.
‘We now know that once people start opening packs of cigarettes, whether it’s for daily use or just to socialize at a party, they’re entering the same on-ramp toward serious health problems.’
The study is at: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0890117117706420.
The Times Leader story is at: http://timesleader.com/features/671692/ohio-state-study-shows-social-smokers-at-same-risk-as-daily-tobacco-users.
August 16, 2017
BEST knows best
The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) Undertaking of Mumbai, India, is due to begin an initiative to ‘free itself of tobacco addiction’, according to a Mid-day.com story relayed by the TMA.
The company is planning to install drop boxes for cigarettes and gutka in each of its buses.
And it has said it will enforce a new personnel policy requiring employees to quit tobacco ‘before they can progress in their careers’.
The personnel program is due to implement a five-point policy covering ‘recruitment and promotions, free medical consultations and other support for employees trying to quit, and penalties for those that give up’. [Presumably the penalties are brought down on the heads of those that give up trying to give up].
Roughly 40 percent of the BEST workforce is said to be ‘addicted to tobacco’.
August 16, 2017