http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/statistics.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.kdheks.gov/tobacco/download/TobaccoReport.pdf http://tobacco.org/news/265332.html Recommendations for state tobacco prevention and cessation programs are best summarized in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs (2007). In this updated guidance document, CDC recommends that states establish tobacco control programs that are comprehensive, sustainable, accountable and include the following programmatic elements: public education efforts, community and school-based programs, cessation programs, enforcement efforts, and monitoring and evaluation. The empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of comprehensive tobacco prevention and cessation programs is vast and growing. Data from a number of states that have implemented programs consistent with the CDC guidelines show significant reductions in youth and adult smoking. The most powerful evidence, however, comes from national studies that look across states and control for as many of the relevant confounding factors as possible. These rigorous studies consistently show the positive effects to health of tobacco prevention and cessation programs. Kansas’ efforts have introduced components of a comprehensive program in communities across the state. As a result, 44 counties have initiated strategies from at least one component of a comprehensive program and are poised to launch full-scale programs that replicate the recommendations of the national guidelines. Some communities have already implemented strategies from more than one component and evidenced successful results. However, as science has shown, to achieve the most success these components must be implemented statewide and simultaneously. Considering the strides that Kansas has made in tobacco control, it should capitalize on the partnerships that exist at the state and local levels by investing in science- based interventions to advance success in reducing the use of and exposure to tobacco. Kansas Department of Health and Environment Thu, 15 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/18972494.html http://tobacco.org/news/265329.html The Kansas Department of Health and Environment recently released the Tobacco Use in Kansas 2007 Status Report. This report highlights current Kansas adult and youth tobacco use statistics, efforts to reduce tobacco use, information about the health effects of secondhand smoke and recommendations to improve tobacco prevention in Kansas. To view the full report visit www.kdheks.gov/tobacco. “Tobacco use remains the most preventable cause of death and disease in the U.S. and in Kansas,” said Roderick L. Bremby, Secretary of KDHE. KAKE TV Channel 10 news@kake.com Thu, 15 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=2355 http://tobacco.org/news/265282.html Countries throughout Latin America have been increasing the number of laws controlling labeling and public smoking. In the midst of growing health concerns and increased global pressures to establish and enforce tobacco legislation, some Latin American countries are strongly pushing new legislation as it relates to bans on tobacco, while others are making moves to expand previous legislation that was rarely enforced. Much of this legislation stems from the World Health Organization�?(TM)s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). This enforcement comes at a time when many Latin American countries are recovering from economic difficulties requiring governments to focus on recovery and less on smoking regulation. . . . In an effort to increase the population’s awareness of health issues that arise from smoking, many Latin American countries have instated labeling legislations requiring written warnings and images on tobacco packing. Labeling cigarettes as “light”, “ultra light” and “mild” has become a major target for cigarette packaging. Legislators believe that the “light” labeling can mislead consumers into thinking that the product is better for them than the alternative. Brazil has been at the forefront of tobacco control with one of the most extensive tobacco legislations in Latin America. Latin Business Chronicle Latin America Mon, 12 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14672288 http://tobacco.org/news/265279.html An estimated 100 million people - mostly the poor and illiterate - smoke beedi in India and 200,000 tuberculosis deaths are due to these hand-rolled cigarettes, a health ministry report released on Monday said. The report, for the year 2004-05 and termed as the first analytical, scientific and systematic study on the trend, said beedi smoking was more harmful than cigarette smoking. "In India, beedi smoking contributes substantially to death from tuberculosis," said Health Secretary Naresh Dayal. Dayal released the beedi monograph that lists the prevalence of beedi smoking in the country, its consequences - both economic and healthwise - and public health policy strategies. He said there are more beedi smokers than users of any other kind of tobacco products. "Beedi is the most widely used form of tobacco. There are 240 million tobacco users of which 100 million smoke beedi," he said. Sify.com India Tue, 13 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.indianexpress.com/story/308750.html http://tobacco.org/news/265263.html Over 100 million people in India smoke bidi and more people die due to smoking bidis than all other forms of tobacco combined, says a bidi monograph, the first study of the kind conducted anywhere in the world. It further says that 800 million bidis are sold in the country each year. While 19 per cent of tobacco consumption in India is in the form of cigarettes, 53 per cent is smoked as bidis. Roughly about eight bidis are sold for every cigarette, underlines Bidi Smoking and Public Health, released by Union Ministry of Health and Family welfare on Monday. "Tobacco is harmful in all its forms. Anti-tobacco advocacy is a major task of this ministry," said Naresh Dayal, Secretary, Health Ministry, while releasing the monograph. Dayal added that Food and Agricultural Organisation estimated that 29 lakh persons grow tobacco for bidis in the country. Indian Express India Tue, 13 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/08/2239542.htm http://tobacco.org/news/265218.html An Adelaide physician has calculated that the average Australian smoker spends about $300,000 on cigarettes in a lifetime. Doctor Ross Philpot's calculations have been published in the Medical Journal of Australia. The research also shows that a person who smokes 20 cigarettes a day will have smoked 500,000 by the time they die. Dr Philpot says telling patients about the cumulative total of cigarettes bought and smoked can be an effective way to get people to quit. Australian Broadcasting Corporation Australia Thu, 08 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.timesofacadiana.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080507/NEWS0102/805070301 http://tobacco.org/news/264899.html Smokers aren't the only ones who feel the costs of smoking. "Tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure cost the state of Louisiana $3 billion per year in health care costs and lost productivity," says Carrie Broussard of the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living. TFL estimated in 2005 that of the $1.47 billion in health care costs directly caused by smoking in Louisiana, $663 million was covered by the taxpayer-funded state Medicaid program. Louisiana residents' total state and federal tax burden used to address problems caused by smoking averaged out to $626 per household. And those numbers aren't including health-care costs caused by secondhand smoke, cigar and pipe smoking or chewing tobacco. You probably don't even want to think about the non-health-related costs: not just lost productivity, but property losses in fires caused by smoking (over $500 million -- not to mention more than 1000 deaths -- across the country each year) and cleaning and maintenance costs made necessary by tobacco smoke and cigarette litter (around $4 billion nationwide just for commercial establishments). . . . Occasional smokers are often college students -- a 2007 report by the American College Health Association found that while only 10 percent of students smoke regularly, 30 perent smoke intermittently. And with tobacco companies facing increasing criticism for aiming advertisements at children, they've started targeting the 18-to-24-year-old demographic -- partly by advertising aggressively in environments where college-age intermittent smokers are most likely to indulge, such as bars and nightclubs. "Intermittent smokers usually believe that they can stop smoking at any time and often think that they will quit after college," says David, but they're usually wrong. . . . Today, in her work as development director with the Acadiana Arts Council, Moss makes it a priority to work to promote smoke-free venues where Acadiana residents can go to hear musical performances without worrying about secondhand smoke exposure. Interested in joining the fight? Consider getting involved with the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network (acscan.org) or the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living (tobaccofreeliving.org) Times of Acadiana timesedit@timesofacadiana.com (Ashley Flanagan) Wed, 07 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/hearing00-06/hearing00-06.htm http://tobacco.org/news/264873.html Figure 4 illustrates a sharp age difference in the disparities for smoking prevalence. Among adults aged 18-44 years, more than 40% of those who were deaf or had a lot of trouble hearing currently smoked cigarettes compared with 24% of those with good hearing. Disparities in smoking prevalence persisted among middle aged adults but were not found for adults aged 65 years and over, an age group for which hearing loss is more prevalent and smoking rates are generally low. National Center for Health Statistics nchsquery@cdc.gov (Charlotte A. Schoenborn, M.P.H., and Kathleen Heyman, M.S. Division of Health Interview Statistics) Wed, 07 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/sleep04-06/sleep04-06.htm http://tobacco.org/news/264872.html Conclusions The findings in this report, based on a survey of a representative sample of U.S. adults, offer a national perspective on the association between sleep practices and other health-related behaviors in the U.S. adult population. The findings presented here suggest that U.S. adults who usually slept less than 6 hours were more likely than adults who slept 7 to 8 hours to engage in certain health risk behaviors (i.e., cigarette smoking, having five or more drinks in a day, engaging in no leisure-time physical activity, and being obese). In many cases, adults who usually slept 9 hours or more were also at increased risk of engaging in these unhealthy behaviors. The associations between sleep and other behaviors are complex, and the directions of causality cannot be determined with the cross-sectional data used in this analysis. Additional analyses are needed to identify the causal directions of these relationships, as well as to identify factors, such as poverty or educational attainment, that may influence sleep and its associated factors. Despite these limitations, the findings presented here provide important information about the potential relevance of discussing health risk behaviors such as smoking, alcohol use, physical inactivity, and obesity with patients who seek medical advice for sleep concerns. National Center for Health Statistics nchsquery@cdc.gov ( Charlotte A. Schoenborn, M.P.H., and Patricia F. Adams, Division of Health Interview Statistics) Wed, 07 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-obesity0507,0,6803087.story?track=rss http://tobacco.org/news/264871.html People who sleep fewer than six hours a night -- or more than nine -- are more likely to be obese, according to a new government study that is one of the largest to show a link between irregular sleep and big bellies. The study also linked light sleepers to higher smoking rates, less physical activity and more alcohol use. . . . Such surveys can't prove cause-effect relationships, so -- for example -- it's not clear if smoking causes sleeplessness or if sleeplessness prompts smoking, said Charlotte Schoenborn, the study's lead author. It also did not account for the influence of other factors, such as depression, which can contribute to heavy eating, smoking, sleeplessness and other problems. Smoking was highest for people who got under six hours of sleep, with 31 percent saying they were current smokers. Those who got nine or more hours also were big puffers, with 26 percent smoking. The overall U.S. smoking rate is about 21 percent. For those in the study who sleep seven to eight hours, the rate was lower, at 18 percent. AP Wed, 07 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pressparliament/pressreleases2008/pr3.aspx http://tobacco.org/news/264724.html A survey at Mersey Care NHS Trust (a mental health trust) was published in the May 2008 issue of the Psychiatric Bulletin. It set out to explore the attitudes of in-patients across the General Adult and Old Age Directorates of the Trust towards hospital and government smoking policies, and towards the perceived effects of smoking on health and well-being. . . . This study reinforces previous findings that smoking is more prevalent among psychiatric patients than in the general population. As the majority of in-patients, both smokers and non-smokers, felt that there should be smoking areas within psychiatric units, can any appropriate compromise be reached in view of the current legislation, ask the researchers? It would be interesting to know, they say, whether these results are mirrored elsewhere in the country, and whether patients' views are changing following implementation of tighter smoking policies within NHS trusts. It would also be worth evaluating the level of compliance with such policies. Royal College of Psychiatrists dhart@rcpsych.ac.uk UK Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.arabianbusiness.com/518245-smokers-could-be-hit-by-a-price-hike?ln=en http://tobacco.org/news/264625.html o cut the number of people lighting up. (Getty Images) Smokers in the UAE could see the cost of cigarettes soar under a government initiative to reduce the number of people lighting up, an official has warned. Wedad Al Maidoor, head of the Ministry of Health Tobacco Control Team, said the price hike has been included in a new smoking law that is expected to come into force across the Emirates at the end of May, UAE daily the National reported on Sunday. Arabian Business amy.glass@itp.com (Amy Glass on Sunday, 04 May 2008) Uae Sun, 04 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/industries/27/index.html http://tobacco.org/news/264494.html 1 Altria Group 6.0 13.9 21.4 84,000 -52.0 2 Reynolds American CNN/Money Fri, 02 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080501005592&newsLang=en http://tobacco.org/news/264434.html Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c90656) has announced the addition of "Tobacco in India" to their offering. Euromonitor's Tobacco in India report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data (2001-2006), allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market - be they new legislative, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts to 2011 illustrate how the market is set to change. Business Wire press@researchandmarkets.com India Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/disease/?scp=5-b&sq=cigarette&st=nyt http://tobacco.org/news/264394.html With continuing strong demand for cigarettes around the world, especially in poor countries, the W.H.O., in conjunction with Michael Bloomberg's personal foundation, is proposing a huge global anti-smoking project. The W.H.O.'s report on the subject calls for "raising cigarette taxes, banning smoking in public places, enforcing laws against giving or advertising tobacco to children, monitoring tobacco use, warning people about the dangers and offering free or inexpensive help to smokers trying to quit." Bloomberg's foundation contributed $2 million to the report. While a great deal has been made of Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton spending their own money on political campaigns, I have heard little talk (and none of it negative) about Bloomberg's use of personal money for such causes. It is hard to argue against anti-smoking measures, of course -- unless you are Philip Morris. New York Times Blogs levittdubner@freakonomics.com (Stephen J. Dubner) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT