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ASH at the National Conference on Tobacco or Health

admin — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 20:09:55 +0000

For someone who had to get involved in tobacco control as relief from seeing patient after patient suffering and dying as a result of their use of tobacco and who has been involved in tobacco control for over forty years, it is immensely gratifying to see the growing number of organizations and people represented at this National Conference on Tobacco or Health who have taken on the challenge of ending the epidemic of disease and death due to tobacco. ASH is looking to them as partners in challenging the deadly tobacco industry. ASH is also looking to new ideas to challenge the industry from anyone reading this blog. We welcome any and all ideas. Who knows which one might bear fruit and put a hole in the industry’s armor.

Author: Alfred Munzer, MD

NCD Action Plan

admin — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 20:10:13 +0000

WHO has posted a discussion paper on the development of its NCD Action Plan 2013-20 http://who.int/nmh/events/2012/ncd_action_plan/en/index.html The document states that The UN Task Team on the Post-2015 Development Agenda recognized in its report that MDGs did not adequately address the increase of NCDs and it also states that Overseas Development Assistance for NCDs has not maintained pace with the political commitments and the growing recognition of the magnitude and the consequences of the NCD epidemic. Given that tobacco is the leading risk factors for NCDs and kills more than 5 million people per year, this must change. Tobacco control must be integrated in the post 2015 UN Development agenda and it must also be integrated into policies across all government departments.

Cigarettes blamed for raging fires in Spain

admin — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 08:56:00 +0000

[link: http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/530175/fires-in-emporda-kill-four]

This Smoke Alarm is quite literal. At least four people have been killed in the Pyrenees as two wildfires blamed on lit cigarettes being tossed from a car burn out of control. The fires have already destroyed tens of thousands of acres and are still spreading, causing widespread evacuations and travel disruptions. The fires moved so fast that some people were forced to abandon their cars and flee on foot, or jump into the Mediterranean to escape the flames.

In the U.S., cigarettes are the number one cause of fire-related deaths, killing nearly 1000 people a year.

California Tobacco Tax Referendum

admin — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:13:19 +0000

[link: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/06/local/la-me-prop29-20120607]

During its Presidential primary election, California voters also had the chance to weigh in on a proposed $1/pack tax on cigarettes to fund cancer research. Polling just a few weeks before the vote showed widespread support in a state that is health-conscious, cash strapped and has one of the lowest smoking rates in the country. But on election day, the measure was narrowly defeated. What happened in those few weeks?

$47 million dollars of attack ads on radio and television, funded by Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds. Knowing that arguing against cancer research was a losing strategy, Big Tobacco implied that the money would instead feed a huge new bureaucracy, with little money actually helping cancer victims.