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European Commission approves acquisition of Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni businesses 

The European Commission today announced its decision to approve British American Tobacco’s acquisition of the cigarette businesses of Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni A/S (ST) and certain of its snus and roll-your-own tobacco interests.

Approval has been given by the European Commission on the condition that British American Tobacco agrees to divest a small number of local brands, primarily in Norway.

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Socioeconomic Inequalities in Health in 22 European Countries 

Background

Comparisons among countries can help to identify opportunities for the reduction of inequalities in health. We compared the magnitude of inequalities in mortality and self-assessed health among 22 countries in all parts of Europe.

Methods

obtained data on mortality according to education level and occupational class from census-based mortality studies. Deaths were classified according to cause, including common causes, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer; causes related to smoking; causes related to alcohol use; and causes amenable to medical intervention, such as tuberculosis and hypertension. . . .

Inequalities in mortality were small in some southern European countries and very large in most countries in the eastern and Baltic regions. These variations among countries appeared to be attributable in part to causes of death related to smoking or alcohol use or amenable to medical intervention. The magnitude of inequalities in self-assessed health also varied substantially among countries, but in a different pattern. . . .

Conclusions We observed variation across Europe in the magnitude of inequalities in health associated with socioeconomic status. These inequalities might be reduced by improving educational opportunities, income distribution, health-related behavior, or access to health care. . . .

In Europe as a whole, inequalities in mortality from smoking-related conditions account for 21% of the inequalities in the rate of death from any cause among men and 6% of those among women (Table 2). Inequalities in smoking-related mortality tend to be larger in the eastern and Baltic regions (among men only) and smaller (or even "reverse") in the southern region. . . .

In Europe as a whole, both smoking and obesity are more common among people of lower education level; education-related inequalities in smoking are larger among men, and education-related inequalities in obesity are larger among women (Figure 3). There are striking differences among countries in the magnitude and even the direction of these inequalities, however. Large education-related inequalities in smoking are seen in the northern, western, and continental regions; small inequalities (and, among women, even reverse inequalities, in which smoking rates are higher in groups with more education) are seen in the southern region.

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EDITORIAL: Beyond Health Care -- Socioeconomic Status and Health 

The article by Mackenbach et al. in this issue of the Journal1 documents the extraordinary pervasiveness of socioeconomic inequalities in health as well as the varying magnitude of risks among countries. The compilation of data from western and eastern European countries on mortality, morbidity, smoking, and obesity in relation to socioeconomic status allows the authors to provide the broadest international portrait to date of the association between socioeconomic status and health. The link between socioeconomic disadvantage and poor health has been observed repeatedly,2 but until now we have lacked data that would permit us to make consistent comparisons of these linkages across many countries. Comparisons among countries invite us to examine the features that are shared from country to country that contribute to the overall patterns of disease, as well as to explore the unique features of a nation that contribute to variability in the magnitude of the risks across countries. . . .

Socioeconomic status as it relates to differences in rates of smoking also does not appear to explain differences in mortality from causes generally attributable to smoking (e.g., chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and various cancers). For example, in Hungary, differences in rates of smoking according to socioeconomic status are very small, whereas differences in mortality according to socioeconomic status for conditions related to smoking are large.

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Snuff Ban Feeds Resentment of EU in Finland's Aaland Islands 

The 27,000 people of Finland's Aaland Islands are tired of being bossed around by the European Union. ... The islanders, who often say they feel more like Swedes than Finns, have clashed with the EU over fishing and hunting rights, as well as snus, a form of snuff that is popular in Sweden but illegal to sell in Finland. ... Aalanders consider snus, pronounced ``snoos,'' to be an important part of their Swedish culture. Brussels banned sales of snus, packets of tobacco that are inserted under the top lip, in 1992 on concern it would spread outside Scandinavia and attract new users. Sweden won an exemption before it joined the bloc in 1995. Aaland ferries continue to sell snus in Swedish waters.

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EU approves British American Tobacco bid for Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni  

BRUSSELS, Belgium: EU antitrust regulators on Friday approved the purchase of Denmark-based Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni AS's cigarette business by British American Tobacco PLC.

The European Commission said, however, its approval of the US$3.9 billion (€2.48 billion) deal is conditional on the sale of a number of tobacco brands by BAT in Norway. BAT has offered to sell off two roll-your-own tobacco products in Norway, the EU said.

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Many EU youths think cannabis is no more dangerous than cigarettes 

Nearly half of the European Union's young people believe that cannabis is no more dangerous to health than smoking cigarettes, an EU survey has found. The Eurobarometer survey polled 12,000 EU citizens between the ages of 15 and 24 and was published on Thursday's International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

Of those who expressed an opinion in the survey, 43 per cent said cannabis poses only a "medium risk" to health, similar to tobacco smoking.

A further 41 per cent said they thought it posed a high health risk.

By contrast, between 81 and 96 per cent of respondents thought that using heroin, cocaine or ecstasy was very dangerous

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Imperial Tobacco sheds 6 pct of staff  

Imperial Tobacco Group PLC said Thursday that it plans to slash its work force by around 6 percent as part of its restructuring plans after its recent takeover of Spanish rival Altadis SA.

Imperial, Europe's second largest tobacco company, said it will close six of its 58 factories around the world and "reorganize operations at a number of other sites." Two of the plants being closed are in France and there is one each in Britain, Germany, Spain and Slovakia.

The maker of brands including Lambert & Butler, West and Gauloises said the plans are an attempt to address overcapacity and improve efficiencies in a "challenging and highly regulated operating environment."

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• Imperial Tobacco Plans to Cut 2,440 Jobs in Europe (Update1) 

Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, Europe's second-largest publicly traded cigarette maker, plans to cut 2,440 European jobs after buying Altadis SA for 12.6 billion euros ($20 billion) earlier this year.

Six of its 58 factories will shut as its payroll falls by about 6 percent, the Bristol, England-based company said today in a statement. The plants slated for closing are located in Spain, France, Germany, Slovakia and Imperial's hometown.

Western European tobacco companies have eliminated jobs and shut factories in the face of government restrictions on smoking and bans on advertisements that have cut into cigarette sales. The takeover of Altadis, the Madrid-based maker of Gauloises cigarettes and Don Diego cigars, added about 27,000 employees to Imperial's work force.

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Link uncovered between smoking and hearing loss  

Smoking can cause age-related hearing loss, a shock new study has suggested.

The research, conducted by the University of Antwerp and funded by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf -- the charity representing Northern Ireland's 219,000 deaf and hard of hearing people -- found that smoking, being overweight and occupational noise were major risk factors in developing the UK's most common type of hearing loss.

The study found that people who smoke regularly for more than one year had worse hearing than those who had never smoked. . . .

The research suggests that smoking decreases the supply of oxygen to the cochlear which can lead to a build-up of free radicals in cochlear tissue, causing damage, hair cell death and ultimately loss of hearing.

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EU extends review of BAT/ST cigarette deal  

The European Commission on Monday delayed its decision on whether British American Tobacco can buy Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni's (ST) cigarette business for 2 billion pounds ($3.94 billion).

BAT wants to buy 100 percent of the cigarette assets of privately owned, Denmark-based ST with snus and roll-your-own tobacco in an immediately earnings-enhancing deal.

The Commission said the decision was delayed to June 27 from June 13, so that customers and competitors could review potential remedies that BAT has offered.

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• Shock smoking images exhibited 

Shocking graphic images of the effects of smoking displayed on cigarette packets across the world are currently on display in Dublin.

The photographs of varying severity including diseased lungs, throat tumours, spontaneous abortions, and rotting gums and teeth are on display in Dublin's Central Library at the ILAC Centre until June 20.

'The Power of Communications against Tobacco' exhibition shows 42 images approved by the European Union.

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EU inquiry deadline for BAT buy of STK's tobacco ops extended to June 27  

The European Commission said it has extended the deadline for its inquiry into British American Tobacco PLC.'s (BAT) proposed acquisition of Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni AS.' (STK) cigarette business, certain snus and roll-your-own tobacco operations to June 27.

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• Mitchell launches product to help smokers quit habit  

FAMILIES were urged to help relatives stub out smoking with a new product which, it was claimed, helps 60% of people kick the habit.

MEP Gay Mitchell presented the new Irish-produced quit smoking aid in the European Parliament. The company producing the product, NicoBloc, says it reduces the amount of tar and nicotine inhaled from smoked cigarettes.

Mr Mitchell said as a child he had only been weeks away from his sixth birthday when his father, 54, a smoker, died of lung cancer.

Two of his brothers and a sister, who were not smokers, have since died from cancer. . . .

NicoBloc is a liquid which users put on the filter of cigarettes. The substance traps tar and nicotine before it leaves the cigarette.

However, rather than acting as a substitute, like other smoke free products such as nicotine patches, it helps stops smoking.

Users add one drop on each cigarette in the first week, two on each one in the second and three in the third.

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• British support for EU tobacco farmers 'ludicrous' 

BRITISH taxpayers will contribute millions of pounds into a fund worth more than £200 million to subsidise southern European tobacco farmers this year.

Direct payments to tobacco farmers, which were due to expire in 2009, could now run until 2012 after the powerful block of southern European countries voted in the European Parliament to maintain the subsidy.

Despite Britain fully decoupling farm subsidies from production at the earliest opportunity after the 2003 CAP reform, its European counterparts are still pouring coupled payments into the dying tobacco industry.

Chairman of the European Parliament Agriculture Committee, Neil Parish, said the policy was ludicrous.

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• World No Tobacco Day: EU Tobacco Advertising Ban Effective, concludes EU report. 

Less than three years after its entry into force the EU advertising ban has proven its effectiveness. This is the conclusion of the Commission report on the performance of the Tobacco Advertising Directive. Today, all Member States have transposed the Directive and tobacco brand advertising in the press aimed at the general public has virtually disappeared. Direct tobacco sponsorship of cross-border sports and other events within the EU has also ceased. The key challenge in the tobacco advertising ban has shifted to the internet which is difficult to control. The Commission is working with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to strengthen advertising bans at global level, to ensure that the EU ba Less than three years after its entry into force the EU advertising ban has proven its effectiveness. This is the conclusion of the Commission report on the performance of the Tobacco Advertising Directive. Today, all Member States have transposed the Directive and tobacco brand advertising in the press aimed at the general public has virtually disappeared. Direct tobacco sponsorship of cross-border sports and other events within the EU has also ceased. The key challenge in the tobacco advertising ban has shifted to the internet which is difficult to control. The Commission is working with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to strengthen advertising bans at global level, to ensure that the EU ban is not undermined from the outside.

EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said: "I am very encouraged by the results of this report. It proves that in less than 3 years we have managed to make cross-border tobacco advertising in the EU a relic of the past. The teenagers of today need the real facts about smoking and its consequences.n is not undermined from the outside.

EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said: "I am very encouraged by the results of this report. It proves that in less than 3 years we have managed to make cross-border tobacco advertising in the EU a relic of the past. The teenagers of today need the real facts about smoking and its consequences.

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