Hollyoaks actress Saira Choudhry has urged young women to give up smoking on World No Tobacco Day. The 22-year-old, who plays Anita Roy in the Channel 4 soap, is supporting the campaign, which this year focuses on reducing the growing number of females aged 20-24 who are taking up smoking. She declared: “My Mum Fae is a no-smoking adviser and used to work in a hospital in Manchester. She always told me if I ever smoked she’d take me to the wards with her one day so I could see the effects for myself, which put me off completely.

“It’s really worrying that there is an increase in young women of my age group who are smoking discount cigarettes like – Marlboro, Parliament, Kent etc. Apart from the fact it’s so bad for your health, it’s also really ageing and bad for your skin. I reckon you can always tell who is a smoker by looking at their skin.

“I’d say to all young girls who smoke, to give up this World No Tobacco Day and save up their money instead to go on a fabulous holiday or buy some great shoes.” According to The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, a national charity which helps people give up smoking, 31% of young women aged 20-24 now smoke.

Eileen Streets, director of tobacco control at the charity, said: “It is estimated that one in two smokers will die from a tobacco-related illness. There is no doubt that people who smoke are playing a game of Russian roulette.

“Smoking more than half a pack a day may cause infertility among women, the early onset of menopause and foetal abnormalities.

“Studies have also shown that the skin of a 40-year-old smoker is as damaged as that of a 60-year-old non-smoker.

“If the health risks alone are not enough of a concern then the financial implications should be. At today’s prices, a 20-a-day smoker will spend more than £37,000 over the next 20 years – that’s the equivalent of 98 pairs of Christian Louboutin classic black heels or eight Hermes Birkin bags.

“It’s not just about saving money though so you can buy some fabulous shoes, it’s about improving and protecting women’s health for today and also for future generations.”

Smoking cigarettes is funny, fashionable but unfortunately it can harm the smokers health. Statistics show that most of smokers are young people. The latest Global Youth Tobacco Survey (2009) by the World Health Organisation (WHO), in consultation with the Government of India, declared that more than 50 per cent of the people who bought cigarettes from stores were not refused despite the country’s law prohibiting sale of tobacco to minors.

The WHO had carried out a school-based survey of students aged between 13 and 15. A two-stage cluster sample design was used to produce representative data for the country.

According to the preliminary results, 14 per cent students use one tobacco product or the other. Of these, 19 per cent are boys and 8.3 per cent girls. Worse, 15.5 per cent students who have not started smoking are likely to start soon. A total of 10,112 students participated in the WHO survey.

The survey revealed that 24 per cent think boys and 13.4 per cent think girls who smoke have more friends, and 21.1 per cent think boys and 15.6 per cent think girls who smoke look more attractive. And 5.7 per cent usually smoke at home.

The exposure to second-hand smoke is no less in India. The survey shows one in five students live in homes where others smoke and more than one-third of the students are exposed to smoke outside of their homes.

The good news is that more than two-thirds of the current smokers want to stop smoking.

According to the data, 66.1 per cent want to stop smoking, and 67.2 per cent have tried to stop smoking during the past year. “Six out of 10 students think smoking in public places should be banned,” the survey added.

MP Hadi Rajabli declared that the fight against smoking continues to be the most urgent and problematic sphere of activity throughout the world. So, Milli Mejlis (Azerbaijani parliament) is holding a round table on the fight against smoking in national legislation: realities and prospects. The event organized by the parliamentary committee on social policy dates to the World Day without Tobacco marked on May 31 and established by the World Health Organization on 31 May 1988. Speaking at the event, chairman of the Milli Mejlis Committee on Social Policy, MP Hadi Rajabli noted that the fight against smoking continues to be the most urgent and problematic sphere of activity throughout the world.

He said smoking is a great evil and Azerbaijan should pay more attention to it. He said the so-called passive smokers who are obliged to breathe in tobacco smoke are also caused damage along with the smokers themselves. Rajabli noted that he supports introduction of amendments and alterations to existing legislative basis on this issue and considered it inexpedient to develop a separate law in this sphere.

However, deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee Musa Guliyev stressed the need to adopt a law on fighting smoking that will regulate all issues, including administrative responsibility for violation of standard acts, restricting the use and promotion of tobacco wares in Azerbaijan. Guliyev said the group of deputies he heads has already developed a bill of 12 articles on fighting smoking. He considers that before adopting such a bill it is necessary to strengthen the propaganda and informing the public about the harm of smoking. Guliyev said that the experience of most countries showed that it will be impossible to settle the problem of smoking just through adopting laws and bans and it is necessary to do everything to inform people about the harm caused by tobacco.

Guliyev nited that the bill on fighting smoking and restriction of smoking in close areas, transport and public places will be set for discussion of the autumn session of the Azerbaijani parliament.

The majority of the world’s 1.3 billion tobacco users are men, but female use is increasing (1,2). To examine differences in tobacco use and awareness of tobacco marketing by sex, CDC and health officials in Bangladesh, Thailand, and Uruguay (among the first countries to report results) analyzed 2009 data from a newly instituted survey, the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS). This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicated wide variation among the three countries in tobacco use, product types used, and marketing awareness among males and females.

In Bangladesh and Thailand, use of smoked tobacco products was far greater among males (44.7% and 45.6%, respectively) than females (1.5% and 3.1%, respectively).

In Uruguay, the difference was smaller (30.7% versus 19.8%). Use of smokeless tobacco products in Bangladesh was approximately the same among males (26.4%) and females (27.9%), but females were significantly more likely to use smokeless tobacco in Thailand (6.3% versus 1.3%), and use in Uruguay by either sex was nearly nonexistent. Males in Bangladesh were twice as likely as females to notice cigarette advertising (68.0% versus 29.3%), but the difference between males and females was smaller in Thailand (17.4% versus 14.5%) and Uruguay (49.0% versus 40.0%). In all three countries, awareness of tobacco marketing was more prevalent among females aged 15–24 years than older women. Comprehensive bans on advertising, sponsorship, and promotion of tobacco products, recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), can reduce per capita cigarette consumption if enforced.

GATS is a new nationally representative household survey of persons aged 15 years, initially conducted during 2008–2009 in 14 countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, Russian Federation, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay and Vietnam. Bangladesh, Thailand, and Uruguay were among the first countries to report results. The GATS core questionnaire includes detailed questions regarding the demographic characteristics of respondents, their tobacco use, and a wide range of tobacco-related topics (e.g., cessation, secondhand smoke, economics, media, and knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions).

In each country, a multistage cluster sample design is used, with the number of households selected proportionate to population size. Households are chosen randomly within a primary sampling unit or secondary sampling unit, and one respondent is selected at random from each selected household to participate in the survey. Interviewers administer the survey in the country’s local language, using handheld electronic data collection devices. Interviews are conducted privately and same-sex interviewers are used in countries where culturally appropriate (e.g., Bangladesh). Response rates and number of participants for the three countries in 2009 were as follows: Bangladesh, 93.6% and 9,629; Thailand, 94.2% and 20,566; and Uruguay, 95.6% and 5,581.

To examine differences in tobacco use by sex, estimates of current tobacco use in the three countries were analyzed for both smoked tobacco products and smokeless tobacco products. To examine differences in tobacco marketing awareness by sex, “yes” responses were analyzed to questions regarding whether participants had noticed advertising, promotion, or sponsorship of cigarettes in the preceding 30 days. Estimates were reported for noticing any cigarette marketing, noticing marketing in stores where cigarettes are sold, and noticing marketing other than in stores where cigarettes are sold.

In Bangladesh, similar questions regarding bidi and smokeless cigarettes marketing were included in the survey. All estimates were weighted to reflect the noninstitutionalized population aged 15 years in each country, accounting for clustered sampling in the variance estimation. Statistical significance of differences in values was determined using a chi-square test.

In all three countries, current tobacco use of Marlboro, Red & White …  was higher among males than females, but use of tobacco varied substantially by sex. In Bangladesh, overall smoking prevalence among females (1.5%) was far lower than males (44.7%) (Table 1). However, the prevalence of smokeless tobacco use among females (27.9%) and males (26.4%) was approximately the same. In Thailand, smoking prevalence was much lower among females, compared with males (3.1% versus 45.6%), but smokeless tobacco use was higher among females than males (6.3% versus 1.3%, respectively). In Uruguay, 19.8% of females were current smokers, compared with 30.7% of males, but only one of the 5,581 participants reported using smokeless tobacco.

Regardless of age group or region type (urban or rural), males were more likely to smoke than females in all three countries. Among both males and females, smoking prevalence varied by age group but did not vary greatly by region type. In Bangladesh and Thailand, smokeless tobacco use among both males and females increased with age group, and smokeless tobacco use was higher in rural than urban areas. In each of these countries, the greatest prevalence of smokeless tobacco use was among women aged 65 years: 64.1% in Bangladesh and 32.9% in Thailand.

The percentage of females who noticed any cigarette advertising, sponsorship, or promotion in the preceding 30 days was 29.3% in Bangladesh, 14.5% in Thailand, and 40.0% in Uruguay. Among males, the prevalence was 68.0% in Bangladesh, 17.4% in Thailand, and 49.0% in Uruguay. Among females, awareness of cigarette marketing in stores where cigarettes are sold was 22.0% in Bangladesh, 7.6% in Thailand, and 24.0% in Uruguay. In Thailand and Uruguay, little or no difference in awareness of in-store cigarette marketing was observed between males and females; however, in Bangladesh, the prevalence among males (54.8%) was more than double the prevalence among females. Similar patterns by sex were observed for awareness of cigarette marketing other than in stores where cigarettes are sold. The percentage of females who noticed tobacco advertising, sponsorship, or promotion other than in stores where cigarettes are sold was 16.5% in Bangladesh, 8.3% in Thailand, and 31.6% in Uruguay.

In all three countries, awareness of cigarette advertising was greater among females aged 15–24 years than women aged 25 years. Similar age differences were observed among males in all three countries. In Bangladesh, awareness of bidi (80.1%) and smokeless tobacco (69.9%) marketing was widespread among females and did not vary by age. In Thailand, for both males and females, those who lived in urban areas were more likely to report exposure to cigarette marketing than those in rural areas. This relationship also was observed among males in Uruguay. In contrast, awareness of both bidi and smokeless tobacco marketing in Bangladesh was more common among males in rural areas than in urban areas

Despite all the personnel and program cuts at the Vermilion County Health Department, environmental health staff will continue enforcing the state’s ban on smoking in public places, according to health department officials. “Things may be a little slower, but we still intend to do smoking enforcement,” Public Health Administrator Steve Laker said. Laker said even though the department will be down one person in the environmental health division, which handles enforcement of the state smoking laws, the department has not ceased responding to complaints and continues citing businesses that are found in violation.

“We are continuing enforcement, because we have always taken enforcement seriously. It’s just something that I don’t think is particularly discretionary,” said Laker, who added that complaints go down in the warmer weather, because smokers are more willing to go outside to smoke.

In January 2008, the state’s smoking ban took effect, making it illegal to smoke in any place the public is allowed, including businesses, workplaces, restaurants and bars. Within the first year, the Vermilion County Health Department received more than 100 complaints about smoking ban violations, and most were complaints against local bars. Some bars had as many as nine complaints, so last year, health department officials announced that they would get more aggressive with enforcement by not giving a second chance to a violator. In the past, the department had inspected a site only after three complaints, but last year, it began inspecting immediately if that place had a previous complaint.

But since the first of this year, more than half of the health department’s programs and personnel have been cut. And beginning today, the health department will be closed every Friday indefinitely in an effort to continue cutting costs, because the state is hundreds of thousands of dollars behind in revenue payments to the department.

But health department officials emphasize that the reductions will not change its enforcement of the smoking ban law.

Kolby Riggle, director of environmental health, said staff will continue responding to complaints that come through the state’s smoking ban hotline system and will continue citing businesses found to be in violation when staff are conducting their food service inspections.

Subjects exhibit virtually identical psychomotor skills on a battery of driving simulator tests prior to and shortly after smoking marijuana, according to clinical trial data published in the March issue of the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. Investigators from Hartford Hospital in Connecticut and the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine assessed the simulated driving performance of 85 subjects in a double-blind, placebo controlled trial. Volunteers responded to various simulated events associated with automobile crash risk — such as avoiding a driver who was entering an intersection illegally, deciding to stop or go through a changing traffic light, responding to the presence of emergency vehicles, avoiding colliding with a dog who entered into traffic, and maintaining safe driving during a secondary in-the-car auditory distraction. Subjects performed the tests sober and then again 30 minutes after smoking a single marijuana cigarette containing either 2.9 percent THC or zero THC placebo.

Investigators reported that volunteers performed virtually the same after smoking cannabis as they did sober and/or after consuming a placebo. “No differences were found during the baseline driving segment (and the) collision avoidance scenarios,” authors reported.

Investigators did note, “Participants receiving active marijuana decreased their speed more so than those receiving placebo cigarette during the distracted section of the drive.” Authors hypothesized that subjects’ reduction in speed on this task suggested that they may have been compensating for perceived impairment. “No other changes in driving performance were found,” researchers concluded.

A 2008 driving simulator study published in the scientific journal Accident, Analysis and Prevention also reported that drivers administered cannabis are likely to decrease their driving speed. “Average speed was the most sensitive driving performance variable affected by both THC and alcohol but with an opposite effect,” investigators reported. “Smoking THC cigarettes caused drivers to drive slower in a dose-dependent manner, while alcohol caused drivers to drive significantly faster than in ‘control’ conditions.’”

Previous reviews assessing the crash culpability risk of drivers under the influence of cannabis have reported a positive association between recent marijuana exposure and a gradually increased, dose-dependent risk of vehicle accident. However, these studies have consistently found that this elevated risk is below the risk presented by drivers who have consumed legal quantities of alcohol. By contrast, studies have also reported that drivers engaged in the simultaneous use of both cannabis and alcohol can increase their risk of accident compared to the consumption of either substance alone.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has donated $5 million to the Public Health Foundation of India for tobacco control efforts. According to the Seattle foundation, smoking kills 1 million people in India every year and is the leading cause of death among Indians between the ages of 30 and 69. The grant will focus on two states in India — Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh — over the next three years.

Here’s a copy of the Gates Foundation release: Departments of Health, Gujarat & Andhra Pradesh announce the launch of project STEPS with Public Health Foundation of India. Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) has been awarded five million dollars by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to strengthen the National Tobacco Control Program in two states of India, namely Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, over a three year period (2009-2012). Project STEPS will provide the much needed district specific strategic response to the rapidly escalating global tobacco epidemic in India.

The Government of India, in compliance with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, launched the National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP), under the 11th Five Year plan, to build state capacity to effectively implement tobacco control laws, and also to bring about greater awareness of the ill effects of tobacco use. Under the program, Tobacco Control Cells have been set up at each state for implementing State and District Tobacco Control Programs.

PHFI is a public-private partnership linking the government, academia, civil society and the private sector, and engages key stakeholder groups in strategic partnerships. PHFI and its educational institutions – the Indian Institutes of Public Health − are in a unique position to promote and sustain the tobacco control movement in India in partnership with the state governments. PHFI and IIPHs adopt a broad, integrated approach to tobacco control, targeting 11 districts in 2 states with long term vision of extending the successful models and interventions tested through this project, all over India.

The goal of project STEPS is to reduce the health burden of tobacco and associated risks; promote health equity through reduction in health and economic burdens resulting from tobacco consumption by engaging, enabling and empowering two key states and their stakeholders. STEPS seeks to facilitate state level action for implementation of centrally designed tobacco control programs. PHFI will be actively assisting the State Governments and NGOs in developing innovative models of community mobilization, community based self help cessation groups, replicating and adapting effective school based tobacco prevention interventions in India, alongside working with Indian Language Print Media to enhance tobacco control coverage in regional newspapers.

Project STEPS will also be conducting economic research to generate data to fill the research gap in India and examine various intervention models to identify opportunities and barriers for adopting alternate employment opportunities for the workforce involved in tobacco production, manufacture and distribution sector along with multiple government and NGO stakeholders. Along with Government of India and State Governments, this project will test models to mainstream tobacco control into existing health programs to improve quit rate among Indian tobacco users.

Distance Learning programs to strengthen capacity of state and district level health workforce, NGO professionals and other public health professionals are being launched as part of STEPS activities by PHFI. Short term courses on tobacco control serving Lawyers, Journalists, Health Professionals and Administrators, too will be launched by December this year.

To mark this event, Prof. K. Srinath Reddy, eminent cardiologist, tobacco control activist, and President, PHFI said:

“We hope to see Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh emerging as the champion states for tobacco control, demonstrating how various proven measures for tobacco control can be effectively implemented to reduce tobacco consumption. We expect to see a greater number of tobacco consumers quitting their deadly habit and others, especially women and young persons, being provided greater protection from becoming the victims of the tobacco trap and passive smoking. These two states will then become role models for other states, to adopt their best practices and gear up their own tobacco control programs”.

Project STEPS will have a strong presence in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. In the next three years, multi-dimensional interventions, research and capacity-building initiatives under Project STEPS will strengthen implementation of tobacco control programs at the district level with active involvement from the Indian Institutes of Public Health at Gandhinagar and Hyderabad.

Commenting on Project STEPS initiatives in Gujarat, Prof. Jay Satia, Director, Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar, observed that:

“Gujarat faces enormous and complex public health challenges related to tobacco use mainly due to high and varied use of tobacco. Even among school going adolescents it is as high as 18%. PHFI through its Indian Institute of Public Health-Gandhinagar (IIPHG), is partnering with the Department of Health, Government of Gujarat to implement the STEPS project. It will demonstrate innovative strategies for wider adoption at state level leading to significant reduction in health and economic burden of tobacco use.”

Prof. Mala Rao, Director, Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad, observed that:

“Tobacco consumption is a reflection not only of individual choice but also of the socio-economic conditions which determine how people behave as well as their chances of a healthy life. We welcome the STEPS initiative which, for the first time, offers us the opportunity to marshal the evidence on how to establish a truly coherent approach to tobacco control with a better chance of success in rooting out this killer habit.”

Project STEPS looks forward to a fruitful collaboration with the State Government, district administration, Indian Language Print Media, Non Government organizations, community based groups stakeholders and activists to create an enabling environment for tobacco control activities.

The European Commission has launched a £13.5 million anti-tobacco campaign targeting the young after a survey showed that 35% of 15 to 24-year-olds are smokers. The UK figure is even higher at 40% – exceeded only by France and Spain (48%), Belgium (44%) and Bulgaria (42%), with 39% of the 15-24 category in Ireland admitting to smoking, according to the latest “Eurobarometer” poll, conducted last October.

EU Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli warned: “Tobacco kills 650,000 Europeans every year and many lives could be saved by reducing tobacco consumption. I am particularly concerned about smoking rates amongst young people – Europe cannot passively watch future generations smoke away their health.”

The new campaign is timed to coincide with European “No Tobacco Day” next Monday, and involves anti-smoking messages targeting television, the internet and other sites accessible via mobile phones in a bid to “empower young people to take control of their health and lifestyles” said a Commission statement spokesman. He added: “The general motto is providing help and support for a life without tobacco by delivering comprehensive information on health and social problems related to tobacco consumption.”

The figures reveal that 28% of all Britons still smoke, despite years of health warnings, compared with an EU average of 29%. In the survey, British male smokers admitted to smoking an average of nearly 16 cigarettes a day, compared with nearly 13 amongst female smokers.

Anti-smoking campaigns are backed by three-quarters of EU citizens, with 77% of Britons supporting explicit health warning pictures on cigarette packets, 67% in favour of a ban on cigarette advertising even in the shops that sell them and nearly a third of British smokers (32%) said they had tried to give up smoking at least once in the last year, but for 56% of them, the attempt failed within a week.

Unveiling the figures, Mr Dalli commented: “I am determined to do everything in my power to reduce tobacco consumption across Europe via upcoming revision of existing legislation on tobacco products and via measures that can contribute to a clear set of rules to support Europeans’ health.”

Current EU legislation dates from 2001, stipulating limits on the nicotine and tar content of cigarettes, written warnings on cigarette packets and a ban on the use of misleading descriptions of cigarette strengths, such as “light”.

So far a dozen EU countries have introduced total bans on smoking in enclosed public places and work places, including bars and restaurants. They are Ireland, the UK, Cyprus, Italy, Malta, Sweden, Latvia, Finland, Slovenia, France, Lithuania and the Netherlands. Partial smoking bans are applied to the “hospitality” industry in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Spain and in most German regions.

The Commission says it is fully behind an EU plan agreed last November to achieve a “smoke-free Europe” by 2012.

On May 31 each year, the World Health Organization (WHO) celebrates World No Tobacco Day, highlighting the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocating for effective policies to reduce consumption. Tobacco use is the second cause of death globally (after hypertension) and is currently responsible for killing 1 in 10 adults worldwide. It is an epidemic, the WHO says, but a preventable one.

The theme for World No Tobacco Day 2010 is “Gender and Tobacco,” with an emphasis on marketing to women. WHO will use the day to draw particular attention to the harmful effects of tobacco marketing and smoking on women and girls. The main marketing message by the tobacco companies is that women and girls who smoke relate better socially,  are more tasteful, and are more attractive to men.

Women comprise about 20% of the world’s more than 1 billion smokers. However, the epidemic of tobacco use among women is increasing in some countries, including the Philippines.

Women are a major target of opportunity for the tobacco industry, which need to recruit new users since old users are dying prematurely from tobacco-related diseases.

Targeting adolescent girls

Especially troubling is the rising prevalence of tobacco use among girls. A new WHO report, “Women and Health: Today’s Evidence, Tomorrow’s Agenda,” points to evidence that tobacco advertising increasingly targets girls.

Data from 151 countries show that 7% of adolescent girls smoke cigarettes as opposed to 12% of adolescent boys.  In some countries, almost as many girls smoke as boys.

The Philippine data is higher than the global average. According to the latest WHO report, the smoking percentage of Filipinos in the age group 13-15 years is 22.7% with more boys smoking than girls who are, nevertheless, catching up.

It also represents a 6.8% increase from the previous WHO report. Despite the passage of the Tobacco Control Act of 2003, more young Filipinos are smoking today. Since 2007, separate bills have been pending with lawmakers to introduce the printing of graphic health warnings instead of text in cigarette packages.

This is in keeping with a global survey of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance that showed young people were more responsive to graphic warnings compared to text warnings.

Cabral ignores slow Congress

However,  Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral could no longer wait for the long-delayed action by Congress.

Last May 24, the Philippines joined countries that use picture-based warnings printed on the packages of tobacco products.

A Department of Health (DOH) administrative order mandated measures that would prohibit the promotion of tobacco use through packaging and labeling.

The administrative order will become effective 15 days from the publication of the order.

It may be challenged in court by the tobacco companies, led by the merged entity of Fortune Tobacco and Philip Morris Philippines Inc. that ontrol 92 % of Philippine cigarette trade. They insist that Congress must first pass the legislation before the DOH can impose its administrative order.

However, the DOH has stated that the Philippines is a signatory to an international agreement with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that mandates signatories to come up with strategies to eliminate the ill-effects of tobacco use. Among the strategies is the use of graphic warnings on tobacco products.

This agreement was ratified by the Senate in 2005. Shortly after signing the administrative order, Secretary Cabral joined other concerned citizens in urging the country’s most likely next president, Benigno  Aquino III, to be a role model for young Filipinos by giving up smoking.

According to the latest study, if smoking was banned from all public spaces in the United States, there would be over 18,000 fewer heart attacks within the first year. The researchers looked at statistics from the 13 states in the U.S. That do not already have legislstion banning smoking in public places. They calculated that there would be an 11% decrease in heart attacks and a savings of $92 million in healthcare costs within a year of any federal ban being enacted. Lead researcher Dr. Mouaz Al-Mallah of the Henry Ford Hospital said that he would “encourage all states to institute a ban on smoking in public places to protect people from secondhand smoke. Authorities should do everything possible to prevent healthy individuals from being exposed to secondhand smoke, and one of the ways is by passing such laws.”

“Smoking and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke are well established and modifiable risk factors for heart attack, stroke and premature cardiovascular death,” says Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow of the University of California.

Dr. Fonarow is the director of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center at the university and he agrees that “adopting a national comprehensive smoking ban would prevent cardiovascular events…and greatly improve the cardiovascular health of this nation.”

Other nations are also cracking down on smoking. In a press conference on May 20, Philippine Health Secretary Esperanza I. Cabral said that the labeling directive issued last May will take effect June 9 as planned. This directive states that tobacco companies must not only include a text health warning, similar to the US labeling regulations, but also must include a graphical warning.

The health department has 8 pictures for them to use on an alternating pattern. The picture must cover at least 30% of the front panel and 60% of the back panel on each pack of cigarettes sold.

Japan recently sent an advisory notice to all local government offices to recommend they set up local bans on smoking in public places. As of now, this is left up to the individual local governments but one official said, “our ministry plans to upgrade the current separation of smoking areas to a total ban on smoking, which is a global trend.”

It is clear that public sentiment has turned the tide on smoking and pressue is being brought to bear on governments as well as individuals to quit. Of course, as many have learned, quitting smoking is not as simple as putting that pack down and walking away. The nicotine is highly addictive but the enhancers added to tobacco products compound this problem.

The smoking cessation industry has burgeoned with the growing tide of anti-smoking legislation and the rise in stigmatization of those who continue to smoke. Those who desire to quit have a number of choices to aid them in their quest – gums, lozenges, patches and medications are all available. However, while each of these products has helped people quit successfully, none of them will work for every single person who desires to stop smoking.

In fact, none of these aids are suitable to help those who may have underlying health issues such as existing heart conditions, high blood pressure or other cardiovascular diseases. Fortunately, hypnosis has proven to be a highly effective alternative to the drugs found in other smoking cessation methods.

Hypnotherapy can be quite costly and rarely covered by medical insurance so many who could be helped through hypnosis have not been able to take advantage of this breakthrough method. Now there is a solution that is affordable for anyone with a product called Quit Smoking for Life.

This advanced hypnosis session has been recorded and is now available for anyone who wishes to quit smoking. As there is a 60 day moneback guarantee on the product, one can assume that it must work in a large percentage of cases and at $17, it is certainly much cheaper than most other methods.

With the rise in anti-smoking sentiment and legislation, more and more smokers are going to be quitting. Now there is an aid to those who cannot use the other smoking cessation products.

The number of women smokers has nearly tripled in Shanghai despite their claims to be against smoking, researchers said. After monitoring the smoking habits of 2,000 people over seven years, researchers from Fudan University found that 7.2 percent of women smoked in 2009, while the figure was less than two percent in 2002. There was no significant change among the smoking rate among men, which has continued to hover around the 48 to 50 percent mark throughout the same period.

“Increasing social tolerance of women smokers and tobacco companies using aggressive marketing tactics to target women are the main reasons for the change,” the lead researcher, Fu Hua, professor of public health at Fudan University, said at Thursday’s tobacco control conference, ahead of World No Tobacco Day, which falls on May 31 every year.

Meanwhile, the research also found that more than 90 percent of the women monitored by the study supported tobacco control measures, while the rate among men was 86 percent.

In March, the city began to enforce its first law banning smoking, which applies to 13 types of public venues, such as schools, hospitals, museums, shopping malls, game rooms, Internet cafe and elevators.

According to the law, public venues should establish designated non-smoking areas and people found smoking in banned areas face fines of 50 yuan ($7) to 200 yuan, if they refuse to put out their cigarettes.

During the first two months of the law being enforced, random checks found that most establishments were complying with the law, including posting No Smoking signs and designating no-smoking areas.

The city is attempting to hold the first smoke-free World Expo in the history of the 159-year-old event.

The Fudan Media and Public Opinion Research Center polled 510 residents in the city over the issue and found that 96.8 percent of residents supported the effort.

There’s a whole lot of crazy going on in this world.  Today’s hot internet buzz is about the smoking toddler in Indonesia that was caught on video by a visiting reporter.  Ardi Rizal, age 2, apparently is addicted to cigarettes; his father, who gave him his first cigarette when he was 18 months old, claims the toddler throws a tantrum if they don’t comply.  The Indonesian toddler smokes up to 40 cigarettes a day.

Although this alone is disturbing, consider this overwhelming statistic:  25% of Indonesian children between the ages of 3 to 15 have tried smoking.  3.2% of these are active smokers, and the trend is on the rise.  25% of boys ages 13 to 15 are addicted to smoking.

Indonesians love their cigarettes, and tobacco companies love Indonesians. They are the third largest tobacco consumer in the world. 33% of Indonesians smoke, including 63% of all males.  200,000 Indonesians die from smoking-related diseases yearly.  The economic disparity is significant in this country, with 21% of the population subsisting on less than US$1.25 per day.  Single cigarettes can be purchased for a couple of cents, and packs are only a dollar.

Many have expressed outrage at this video, calling for the parents to be jailed. But in Indonesia, tobacco companies have absolutely no restrictions; they can advertise on television and on billboards. Tobacco companies sponsor scholarships for youth, popular sporting events, and even concerts aimed toward kids.  Kelly Clarkson recently got heat for allowing a cigarette company to sponsor her concert; they were dropped finally because of pressure.

US based Philip Morris International is one of the top tobacco sellers in Indonesia and they have been guilty of the same advertising practices. Even though this type of advertising was banned in the United States over 30 years ago, Philip Morris still has no qualms about advertising towards kids when they can get away with it.  They tried to sponsor Alicia Keys, having ads on billboards promoting the singer.  After she denounced them, they finally took the ads off under pressure.

Some have introduced bills banning this type of advertising in Indonesia; because of strong opposition from the tobacco industry, they have not had much success.

In the US, many are opposed to governmental regulation of business.  Robert, a Chicagoan, believes that regulations restrict free trade, and the market will correct itself eventually.  But without regulations, corporations answer to one call – their stockholders and their profits.  Regulations are necessary to prevent business from putting profits before public safety and health.  Consider BP, Johnson & Johnson, and Wall Street; consider that Philip Morris should know better than to peddle their products to little kids that don’t know any better.  We can’t rely on all businesses to do the right thing.