Tobacco.org

Tobacco marketing firm fined NT$5.2 million for giveaways  

The Kaohsiung City Government has upheld a ruling to fine a tobacco product marketing company NT$5.2 million for using colorful cards to promote sales. The fine was first meted out by the City's Health Department following a complaint filed by the anti-smoking organization John Tung Foundation in July.

The foundation charged that the supplier of tobacco products had violated the regulations by attaching well-designed and colorfully printed cards to three brands of cigarette packs as giveaways to attract buyers.

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Health tax on cigarettes may rise subject to 5%  

The health surcharge of NT$20 imposed on every pack of cigarettes sold will be subject to a 5 percent business tax (or value-added tax), according to revisions to the Business Tax Law that passed the first reading by the finance committee of the Legislative Yuan yesterday.

Based on the revisions, if one pack of cigarette sells for NT$50, including the NT$20 health surcharge, then the five percent business tax will be imposed on the base of NT$50, instead of the existing NT$30.

At the moment, the annual health surcharge income from sales of cigarettes amounts to around NT$30 billion, and the 5% business tax on the surcharge, if put into practice, will bring the state an additional annual income of NT$1 billion.

After the 5% percent business tax is imposed on cigarettes, consumers will inevitably pay more to buy cigarettes. Whether this will undermine their willingness to buy tobacco products remains to be seen.

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调查发现男子吸烟可能加剧严重脱发 

　台湾某医院与台湾大学的研究人员对740名男性进行调查，结果发现，如果每天吸烟，那么这些人严重脱发的现象会大大增加。研究人员指出，吸烟可能会损伤毛囊，影响头皮中血液和激素的循环或导致雌激素增加。

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黄洁夫赞扬港澳台三地控烟工作值得内地借镜 

中新网10月21日电 据澳门日报报道，为期两天的第三届两岸四地烟害防制交流研讨会20日在香港开幕，超过100人参加。与会者一致认为，面对烟草危害和威胁，必须采取一系列措施防控，包括促请政府增加烟草税及禁止烟草广告等。

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Association between Tobacco Smoking and Active Tuberculosis in Taiwan: Prospective Cohort Study  

Conclusions: Tobacco smoking was associated with a twofold increased risk of active tuberculosis in a representative cohort of Taiwan's population.

AT A GLANCE COMMENTARY

Scientific Knowledge on the Subject

Previous case-control studies and a small number of cohort studies in high-risk populations have found an association between tobacco and active tuberculosis, but no cohort studies have been conducted in the general population on this association to date.

What This Study Adds to the Field

Tobacco smoking was associated with a twofold increased risk of active tuberculosis in a representative cohort of Taiwan's population. The finding that smoking increases the risk of tuberculosis suggests that tobacco control be considered as an important component in the global effort to eliminate tuberculosis.

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Smokers twice as likely to develop active TB - study 

A study in Taiwan has found that smokers are twice as likely to develop active tuberculosis compared to people who have never smoked, prompting calls for policymakers to be tougher on smoking.

The study tracked nearly 18,000 people in Taiwan representing a general population for more than three years.

"We found a two-fold increase in the risk of active TB in current smokers compared with never-smokers (those who have never smoked)," wrote the lead author Hsien-Ho Lin, a postdoctoral research fellow from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

One in three people in the world is infected with TB but 90 percent of these will remain latent infections. The remaining 10 percent will develop active TB and fall sick at some point in their lives because of weak immune systems. For example, many people who are infected with HIV/AIDS fall sick and die from TB.

Among the 17,699 participants in the Taiwan study, 3,893 were current smokers, 552 were former smokers and 13,254 had never smoked. There were 57 new cases of active TB by the end of the three-year study. . . .

"Based on our analysis, 17 percent of incident TB cases in this population were attributable to smoking," they wrote.

Smokers may have reduced ability to fight intruding viruses and bacteria, such as TB, in their lungs, the experts wrote.

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Smoking raises the risk of developing TB disease: study 

Although smoking per se does not cause the TB disease, those infected with the TB bacteria run a greater risk of developing the disease if they are smokers. Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury

Several studies have shown that smoking is a risk factor for developing the tuberculosis disease (TB). But there was no large-scale study done on the general population to understand this association as most studies looked at high-risk individuals to understand how smoking makes a person develop the disease.

A large-scale study involving 17,699 participants, aged above 12 years, in the general population from a nationally representative sample in Taiwan has shown a clear link between smoking and the TB disease.

The study found that smokers had a two-fold risk of developing the TB disease. The results are published online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

The subjects of the study had participated in Taiwan's 2001 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). They were followed up from 2001 to 2004. . . .

What is significant in the Taiwan study is that unlike previous observational studies, this took into consideration the cofounding factors, such as alcohol use and socioeconomic status.

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• Smoking increases risk of developing active TB 

Smoking is a risk factor for active tuberculosis (TB) disease, according to a new study on TB incidence in Taiwan.

The research analyzed data from nearly 17,000 individuals in Taiwan as part of Taiwan's 2001 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

While past studies have reported increased mortality among TB patients who smoke, none have been able to specifically examine the direct effect of smoking on active TB incidence using a longitudinal design in a general population. "In this prospective cohort study we found a two-fold increase in the risk of active TB in current smokers compared with never-smokers," said lead author, Hsien-Ho Lin, postdoctoral research fellow from Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston.

The results are reported in the September 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.

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Taiwan has cigarette removed from French film ad : Health 

A Taiwan anti-smoking group Friday succeeded in persuading a film company to remove a cigarette from an advertisement for the movie Coco Before Chanel. The John Tung Foundation made the request commuters complained about the ad displayed in the island's mass rapid transit system, saying it was a bad influence for children.

The ad shows Audrey Tautou, who plays Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, seated in a chair, her right hand holding a cigarette.

Vievision Pictures, the Taiwan distributor of the film, on Friday released new ads in which Tautou still holds up her right hand, but the cigarette is gone.

"We stand on the same side with the John Tung Foundation, and believe that by removing the cigarette from the ad, we can create a better atmosphere for the anti-smoking campaign," the company said.

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Moving toward a smoke-free Taiwan  

To promote Taiwan a smoke-free society, the Bureau of Health Promotion, Department of Health has made significant progress in the anti-smoking campaign by implementing a two-phase tobacco control movement this year.

The first step was the new Tobacco Hazard Prevention Act which took effect January 11, followed by the June 1 increase in the health and welfare surcharge imposed on tobacco products.

The act has expanded smoke-free areas to include all indoor facilities with more than three people, such as government offices, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, Internet cafes and karaoke bars.

In addition, smokers have to pay more for smoking for the health and welfare surcharge hike from NT$10 to current NT$20.

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DOH wants tobacco plant to butt out 

Amid a row over a British company's plans to build a tobacco plant in a Miaoli township, Taiwan's health chief Yeh Ching-chuan said his agency is opposed to the project.

Yeh, head of the Department of Health (DOH), made the remarks while fielding questions on the issue from lawmakers at a legislative committee meeting.

He said although the DOH is not the agency responsible for the matter, in principle it is opposed to plans to construct the tobacco plant because the plan runs counter to the global anti-smoking trend.

The negative implications, such as public health and pollution, could outweigh the plant's job creation benefits, Yeh said.

The anti-smoking group, the John Tung Foundation, a non-profit agency, voiced its objection to the plan a day earlier. British-based Imperial Tobacco Company Ltd wants to build a tobacco plant in northern Taiwan's Miaoli County Chunan township.

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Taiwan health department not endorsing setup of tobacco plant  

In a legislative session on Thursday morning, Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) said the Department of Health (DOH) would not endorse the setup of giant tobacco manufacturing plant, saying that the act was against the anti-smoking spirit promoted by the Department.

In the question-and-answer session held by the Legislative Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, Yeh faced inquiries of lawmakers on the Imperial Tobacco Group’s plan to install a manufacturing plant in Miaoli County, and on fake doctors employed by local hospitals.

Britain-based Imperial Tobacco Group, one of top four tobacco companies in the world, set up a major tobacco manufacturing factory in Chunan Town, Miaoli County in central Taiwan. The producer of Davidoff cigarette brand started production in Miaoli plant last year, drawing criticism from anti-smoking groups that it harms Taiwan’s image amid the fight against the hazardous tobacco.

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Taiwan health chief Yeh opposes plan to build tobacco plant in Miaoli  

Amid a row over a British company's plans to build a tobacco plant in a Miaoli township, Taiwan's Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan said yesterday that his agency is basically opposed to the project.

Yeh, minister of the Cabinet-level Department of Health (DOH), made the remarks while fielding questions on the issue from lawmakers at a legislative committee meeting.

He said although the DOH is not the agency in charge of the matter, in principle it is opposed to the tobacco plant construction plan because it goes counter to global anti-smoking trends.

The negative complications, such as public health and pollution problems, could outweigh the plant's job creation benefits, the minister said.

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Sin tax doubles for smokers 

The health surcharge on cigarettes and other tobacco products doubled yesterday from NT$10 a pack to NT$20.

Chao Kun-yu, director of the Bureau of Health Promotion under the Department of Health (DOH), said retail stores are allowed to sell off existing cigarette stocks without imposing the extra NT$10 tax on customers.

He urged consumers to examine the cigarettes they buy to make sure the pack carries a sticker certifying a NT$20 health and welfare surcharge.

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台烟价上涨烟民选择戒烟 戒烟门诊日增六成 

台海网6月2日讯 据台湾TVBS报道，6月1日起台湾烟品健康捐调高10元，不少烟商也趁机涨价，昂贵的烟价成为压垮瘾君子的最后一根稻草？不少医院的戒烟门诊人数就有增加趋势，像基隆医院最近戒烟人数一天就增加5、6成，大部分的人说，烟太贵买不起干脆戒掉。

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