• Tobacco additives issue set to take world stage 

The World Health Organization's (WHO) Switzerland headquarters is a far distance from the tobacco fields of Kentucky, but the agency is casting a long shadow over those fields as it prepares to pass guidelines that could affect cigarette content and interrupt a centuries-old industry.

The organization is the "directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system ... responsible for providing leadership on global health matters," according to information found on its website. One of its many priorities has been to stop the spread of disease thought to be caused by the use of tobacco.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is a treaty adopted by the World Health Assembly on May 21, 2003, and "entered into force" on February 27, 2005. It has been ratified by approximately 168 countries to date. Tarik Jasarevic, convention secretariat, said in an e-mail response that a "Conference of the Parties (COP) establishes a number of working groups to elaborate guidelines and recommendations for implementation of different Articles of the WHO FCTC."

One of these working groups, Jasarevic said, works on Articles 9 and 10: "regulation of the contents of tobacco products" and "regulation of tobacco product disclosures." . . .

That session is scheduled for Nov. 15-20 in Uruguay. It is the language contained in Articles 9 and 10, among others, that have producers and state officials concerned. One of those guidelines would ban ingredients other than tobacco in cigarette production. If that happens, it could mean trouble for burley tobacco producers.

During the curing process, burley becomes harsh tasting, so manufacturers add ingredients and sometimes blend different types of tobacco to make cigarettes made with burley more pleasant to smokers.

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RESEARCH REPORT: A comparison of four international surveys of tobacco dependence treatment provision: implications for monitoring the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control  

Article 14 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) requires countries to implement systems to provide tobacco dependence treatment. We report on global efforts to monitor the implementation of Article 14, and compare the surveys used in this effort. . . .

Conclusions

Current surveys of tobacco dependence treatment provision are in general agreement with each other except for the two official government surveys that rely on governmental respondents. We believe that this points to the continued need for independent non-governmental monitoring of FCTC protocol implementation.

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• Proposed sub-decree banning advertising of tobacco  

Yesterday, Cambodia’s authorities from the Ministry of Health and the inter-ministerial committee for tobacco control were discussing on a proposed sub-decree banning advertising and promotion of tobacco products in the Kingdom of Cambodia. And the proposed sub-decree would be sent to the Council of Ministers soon.

Cambodia ratified the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention Tobacco Control in November 2005, which demands member statutes institute a comprehensive ban on all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship with five years of ratification.

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Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control 

Status:

Signatories to the WHO FCTC: 168

Parties to the WHO FCTC: 168

Participant Signature date Ratification, Acceptance (A), Approval (AA), Formal confirmation (c), Accession (a), Succession (d)

Afghanistan 29 June 2004 13 August 2010

Albania 29 June 2004 26 April 2006

Algeria 20 June 2003 30 June 2006

Angola 29 June 2004 20 September 2007 . . .

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 16 June 2003 16 December 2004

United Republic of Tanzania 27 January 2004 30 April 2007

United States of America 10 May 2004

Uruguay 19 June 2003 9 September 2004

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Philip Morris International claims against Uruguay without merit. 

A legal analysis of the challenge launched by Philip Morris International (PMI) found the company to be both unjustified and unreasonable in its opposition to Uruguay's new tobacco packaging laws.

"In my opinion" said the report's author, Todd Weiler," the claim is nothing more than the cynical attempt by a wealthy multinational corporation to make an example of a small country with limited resources to defend against a well-funded international legal action, but with a well-deserved reputation as a worldwide leader in tobacco control."

In March 2010, three subsidiaries of USA-based Philip Morris International (PMI) launched a damages claim against the Government of Uruguay under the Switzerland - Uruguay Agreement on the Promotion and Protection of Foreign Investments. The companies claimed that their rights under this agreement were impaired by Uruguay's requirements for health warnings that covered 80% of the cigarette package and by regulations to end the industry practice of colour-coding cigarette packages.

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• YouTube used to sell tobacco 

Tobacco companies have turned to video-sharing website YouTube to market their products, new research from Otago University has revealed.

This is despite the obligation in 168 countries to ban all mainstream tobacco advertising, under a World Health Organisation (WHO) agreement which went into effect in 2005.

The study looked at the video results for a YouTube search for five leading cigarette brands and found at least 71 per cent of these videos had content which was supportive of smoking.

These videos included content and themes that would appeal to youth, including the use of celebrities, movies, sports and music.

The videos also normalised smoking.

Researcher Dr George Thomson said the problem was not YouTube users deliberately seeking out tobacco advertisements, but rather users "wandering" through the site, and finding pro-tobacco material related to videos they were interested in.

"They go looking for Harley Davidsons, and they will find Marlboro, right up there." . . .

The study also found that while YouTube provides for the removal of material it defines as offensive, it does not currently consider pro-tobacco content as grounds for removal of specific video clips.

However, public and health organisations could request that YouTube removes pro-tobacco videos containing material considered offensive under present rules, Elkin said. Governments could also implement the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control requirements on controlling tobacco marketing on the internet.

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• Govt to implement anti-smoking laws  

WINDHOEK - The Ministry of Health and Social Services has reiterated Government's commitment to protecting the health of the nation by fully implementing the Tobacco Products Act 1 of 2010.

"It is clear that the use of tobacco kills and incapacitates many people in the most productive years of their lives," said Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Richard Kamwi.

Kamwi further said that his ministry is ready to collaborate with all stakeholders in ensuring that provisions in the Tobacco Products Control Act (Act 1 of 2010) are implemented successfully.

He said with the support of a WHO expert, Dr Ezra Ouma, a plan has been clearly laid out with indicative milestones on how to implement the Act, together with the relevant stakeholders.

"This Act is an important tobacco control tool and milestone in itself in the promotion of public health," said Kamwi. . . .

"The WHO expert will be back in Namibia by mid-September to continue providing the required support to ensure that all our targets are on track," the minister said. In addition, Kamwi said that by October 2010, the following sections would come into force immediately.

Section 15 - banning advertising, promotion and sponsorship; Section 18 - banning sales to and by minors; Section 19 - banning free distribution and rewards related to tobacco products; Section 20 - banning the use of vending machines to sell tobacco products.

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PEIRIS: Tobacco control law needs more teeth 

There is a fast-growing campaign around the world demanding for 100 percent smoke-free laws that ban smoking in all work and public places. Public health authorities worldwide have concluded that there is no safe level of second hand smoke exposure. Scientific evidence is clear that the only effective way to protect workers and the public from secondhand smoke is to enact 100 percent smoke-free law that bans smoking in all public places.

Although the law has enforced, a research study indicated that its practical use is limited. . . .

Sri Lanka too should adopt comprehensive tobacco control programs, for both health and economic reasons. The need for action is urgent as if no action is taken, tobacco may kill a billion or more people in the 21st century in the world. Research studies reveal that 40 percent of all cancers can be prevented if tobacco consumption is curtailed through awareness raising, legislation and taxation.

From enclosed public places, the Government should extend the smoking ban to all public places since half of the smoke generated through a cigarette smoke is secondhand smoke and the other half is generated through mainstream smoke. Public places are potential places where the non-smokers are exposed to tobacco smoke.

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• Experts slam tobacco-sponsored event 

criticized a tobacco company's move to sponsor a sports event, calling it a "bold promotion of their product rather than charity".

The Beijing Tobacco Factory, which manufactures the Zhongnanhai brand of cigarettes, is sponsoring a national five-city parkour event in collaboration with the Beijing donation center of the Hope Project, a major charitable organization in China.

Parkour is the physical discipline of overcoming any obstacle within one's path by adapting one's movements to the environment.

Named after the factory's cigarette product, the parkour rally kicked off in Beijing on July 31 and will conclude on Aug 26 in the Diqing Tibet autonomous region . . .

"It is an activity in the name of charity, but actually it is a bold tobacco promotion," said Wu Yiqun, a Beijing-based anti-tobacco advocate at a symposium on Thursday.

Through the event, images of cigarette packets, the brand names, and words like "lights", are visible on the participants' clothing and hoardings, said Wu, who is also the deputy director of the Beijing-based NGO Think Tank Research Center for Health Development. . . .

China ratified the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005, and has banned tobacco advertising on TV, radio, in local magazines and newspapers.

"The parkour event is the tobacco company's way to go around the convention guidelines,"

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Preventing and treating cancer in poorer countries -- so much can be done, even without expensive on-patent drugs and equipment 

A group of leading cancer and public health experts are calling for a global movement on cancer care and prevention in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), similar to the HIV/AIDS movement that has transformed care in those nations in the past decade. The authors of this Health Policy paper published Online First in The Lancet say that so much can be done using generic, off-patent drugs, education of populations, and better training of doctors and community workers. The paper is written by Dr Felicia Knaul, Harvard Global Equity Initiative, with first authors Dr. Paul Farmer, Harvard Medical School, and Drs. Julio Frenk, Harvard School of Public Health and Lawrence Shulman, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute,Boston, MA, USA, as conveners of the Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries (GTF.CCC) and co-authored by the members of the GTF.CCC.

Cancer is no longer primarily the burden of high-income countries. . . .

A number of initiatives can target these disparities without using expensive on-patent drugs or other equipment. Smoking, a big risk factor for many cancer,continues to rise in many LMIC, so education via antitobacco campaigns could have a huge impact

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Feds slow to cough up new rules for cigarette warnings 

Tobacco companies can breathe a sigh of relief thanks to the delay of Health Canada's plan to force them to increase the size of health warnings to cover most of the surface of cigarette packages.

Health Canada shared mock-ups of supersized new warning labels with public-health advocates more than a year ago — with regulations that were expected to be tabled in January to increase the warning size from their current 50 per cent to at least 70 per cent of the package's surface.

The larger, more graphic images would also be accompanied by a national toll-free quit line.

Even industry appeared resigned to the fact that changes were coming, despite companies maintaining that the government should be focused on the illegal cigarette market, where cigarettes are sold without any health warnings or safeguards against youth access.

Last September, a senior executive for Imperial Tobacco Canada told an audience in Sao Paulo, Brazil, of pending Canadian regulations to increase graphic warning labels. But months have since passed, and the file is stalled. . . .

"The government's been working on this for years now and there has been some very unfortunate and inexplicable delays in a new round of cigarette packaging warnings," said Rob Cunningham, a tobacco control specialist at the Canadian Cancer Society.

"Other countries are leapfrogging over Canada in terms of the size and improved content,"

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• Burning desire  

“We welcome the measure, but it is too little too late,” says Dr Tony Gale, reacting to Government’s recently announced ban on smoking in public places.

The 87-year-old retired general practitioner directed the Barbados Cancer Society’s tobacco programme from 1985 until 2008 when he resigned due to advancing age.

In an interview with the Sunday Sun, Gale expressed the view that Government had been too slow in implementing the measures for tobacco eradication set out in the Framework Convention On Tobacco Control, which he said Government had signed and ratified in 2005.

He explained: “The Framework Convention On Tobacco Control, an international treaty signed by 168 member countries of the World Health Organisation (WHO), had similar objectives to our [Barbados Cancer Society’s] programme. Virtually all the measures recommended by the Barbados Cancer Society to the Government since 1985 are almost identical to the measures recommended by the Framework Convention.

“There are about 12 measures that have been mandated by the treaty, but they have only implemented two measures. The first was to prohibit the sale of tobacco to minors and this latest measure, banning of smoking in public places.

“If it takes ten years to introduce two measures, by my reckoning it will be 20 years to implement the other ten, and signing the treaty would have had no effect at all,” Gale argued.

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• Philip Morris International claims against Uruguay without merit. 

A legal analysis of the challenge launched by Philip Morris International (PMI) found the company to be both unjustified and unreasonable in its opposition to Uruguay’s new tobacco packaging laws.

“In my opinion” said the report’s author, Todd Weiler,” the claim is nothing more than the cynical attempt by a wealthy multinational corporation to make an example of a small country with limited resources to defend against a well-funded international legal action, but with a well-deserved reputation as a worldwide leader in tobacco control.” . . .

The investment treaty between Uruguay and Switzerland is similar to over 2,000 other treaties currently in force worldwide. “Any country that has a bilateral investment treaty with either Switzerland or the USA could face a similar challenge from Philip Morris. The tobacco control measures of dozens of developing countries could be put at risk,” said Mr. Weiler.

Neil Collishaw emphasized the worldwide support for Uruguay’s defence against Philip Morris’ bullying. “Philip Morris may think they can pick on a country half its size, but we expect the global health community will line up to support Uruguay’s efforts.”

Dr. Eduardo Bianco is a cardiologist in Montevideo and president of Uruguay’s leading tobacco control organization, CIET. “What is happening today in Uruguay could happen to any country that implements very effective tobacco control measures,” he said. “As a Uruguayan and a health promoter, I welcome assistance for our work.”

Todd Weiler’s opinion, “Philip Morris vs. Uruguay: An Analysis of Tobacco Control Measures in the Context of International Investment Law” was made public today. Information on tobacco in Uruguay can be found at www.cieturuguay.org

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Ona seeks hike in tax imposed on tobacco 

HEALTH Secretary Enrique Ona proposed on Monday an increase in tobacco taxes to address the increase of smoking-related diseases among smokers.

The proposed scheme imposes a P4.50 tax per stick, or P90 for every 20-cigarette pack.

He made the proposal during a dialogue with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP).

The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), to which the Philippines is a party, says that raising tobacco prices through tax increases “is an effective and important means of reducing tobacco consumption... particularly [among] young persons [Article 6].”

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EDITORIAL: Uruguay recibe solidaridad en medio de amenazas y demandas de Philip Morris International - Comunidad 

International health groups issued a statement strongly supporting the government's decision not to give Uruguay the pressure of Philip Morris International (PMI) to file a lawsuit against the government seeking to weaken the strong and effective laws snuff for the control of the country.

The groups, including American Cancer Society, the Framework Convention Alliance, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Corporate Accountability International, InterAmerican Heart Foundation and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, reiterated their strong support to the government's stance against the lawsuit by PMI, emphasizing the importance of laws to control the snuff of Uruguay for the health and welfare of the citizens of Uruguay. The groups also offered to provide technical and legal assistance to the government of Uruguay. . . .

On February 27, 2010, PMI announced it had requested arbitration by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes of the World Bank. PMI argues that the use of a single presentation of a brand, as well as the use of graphic health warnings occupy 80% of packets of snuff, implies a risk for their investments. This trial is a legal maneuver designed to force the government of Uruguay to weaken laws for the control of snuff and, therefore, no longer effectively protect their citizens from the deadly consequences of snuff consumption. . . .

It is clear that Philip Morris International has deliberately chosen to start a lawsuit against Uruguay to send a message to other countries seeking to protect its citizens against the harmful effects of snuff. In November 2010, Uruguay held the fourth Conference of Parties (COP), which brings together the nations that have ratified the FCTC to reach a consensus on the guidelines of the treaty. In a letter sent to President Mujica, international groups also argued that "The COP is an opportunity for the Government of Uruguay made a formal request from the 169 Parties to create a mechanism and develop a strategy to só no protect him to Uruguay, but also to other countries, against similar maneuvers. " They offered their assistance to the Uruguayan government to carry out this order and seek support from other countries that are parties to the FCTC to this initiative.

It must take immediate action to stop the tobacco industry in its attempts to undermine strong laws and policies for the control of snuff. The World Health Organization maintains that the consumption of snuff and kills 5.4 million people añoy that the epidemic is worsening, especially in developing countries where ma , s 80% of deaths caused by snuff will occur in the coming decades. Unless urgent action is taken in this century one billion people will die worldwide as a result of the consumption of snuff.

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