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TobaccoNEWS & INFORMATIONpast postings

WNTD — Tobacco Industry Interference

Published May 14, 2012

The World Health Organization (WHO) selected “tobacco industry interference” as the theme of the next World No Tobacco Day (WNTD), which will take place on Thursday, 31 May 2012. The campaign will focus on the need to expose and counter the tobacco industry’s brazen and increasingly aggressive attempts to undermine the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). On World No Tobacco Day 2012, and throughout the following year, WHO will urge countries to put the fight against tobacco industry interference at the heart of their efforts to control the global tobacco epidemic. The global tobacco epidemic kills nearly 6 million people each year, of which more than 600,000 are people exposed to secondhand smoke. Unless we act, it will kill up to 8 million people by 2030, of which more than 80% will live in low- and middle-income countries.

Link: More about WNTD online

Celebrate A Smoke-free Mother’s Day!

Published May 1, 2012

Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 13. The CDC website has several resources, including an e-card , to use to celebrate moms for being smoke-free and to encourage them with their smoking cessation efforts. In addition, the campaign for tobacco Free Kids website has two Mother’s Day-related fact sheets with data on women and smoking and the role mothers play in keeping their children from taking up smoking, Data on Smoking Moms and Related Harms and Celebrate a Smoke-Free Mothers’ Day.

Link: CDC Mother’s Day website

Cigarette Warning Labels May Prevent Relapse

Published April 15, 2012

A new study finds that former smokers can be helped with avoiding relapse if they actively pay attention to the health-risk warning labels on cigarette packs. The content and graphic nature of cigarette-package warnings varies widely between these countries, the authors noted. Regardless of nationality, however, the survey found a common trend: ex-smokers who said they found anti-smoking messaging on packaging helpful were more apt to avoid relapse. Reporting their work in the journal Tobacco Control, researchers said they polled 1,936 inhabitants of Western industrialized countries including Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the US. Over 40% of ex-smokers who took notice of warning labels and found them very helpful were still cigarette-free after a year. Those who said the warning labels were not that helpful had a relapse rate of 50%.

Link: Read the TC abstract online

New Surgeon General Report: Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults

Published March 20, 2012

This Surgeon General’s Report discusses (1) the prevalence, causes, effects, and implications of tobacco use by young people; (2) examines the social, environmental, advertising, and marketing influences that encourage youth and young adults to initiate and sustain tobacco use; and (3) identifies proven, effective strategies that hold the potential of dramatically reducing tobacco use. Report, executive summary, consumer booklet, e-card, button, and other resources available online.

Philip Morris Seeks to Buy Influence Over Trade Policy

Published February 24, 2012

A new statement from Matthew L. Myers, the president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, urges government officials not to attend a tobacco industry sponsored corporate reception in Washington DC this weekend. The United States and other countries are currently negotiating a trade agreement that could impact efforts to reduce tobacco use worldwide, Philip Morris International is trying to buy access and influence by sponsoring an exclusive corporate reception Friday in Washington, DC, that will be attended by top trade and other officials from the countries involved.

Link: http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/press_releases/post/2012_02_23_trade

Recent Study

Published January 2, 2012

A recent study finds that children in the smoke-free generation wanted their parents to quit smoking — 98% wished their smoking parent would quit and 54% said their one Christmas wish is that their parent give up smoking. Of the 1,000 children polled, 37% would go without any Christmas presents if their parents quit, 59% would give up pocket money, 78% would commit to doing their homework every night, and 76% would go to bed when told.

Quit for yourself – quit for your family. TECC has resources to help.

November is American Diabetes Month

Published November 18, 2011

Smoking increases your risk of getting diabetes. Smoking also increases complications for those who have diabetes. Check out TECC’s easy-to-read diabetes fact card that addresses how smoking affects a person with diabetes. It also encourages making a plan to quit smoking and making healthy lifestyle choices to control diabetes.