Thailand has long been at the forefront of tobacco control in Southeast Asia. On 8 March 2013, it took another step forward when the health minister Dr Pradith Sinthawanarong signed a regulation requiring 85% pictorial (graphic) health warnings on cigarette packs. Current pictorial warnings are 55%. The regulation is expected to take effect in approximately six […]
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Good news despite the profit increase: analysis of BAT 2012 preliminary results
Pascal Diethelm OxyRomandie, Switzerland On 28 February 2013, British American Tobacco (BAT) published their preliminary results for 2012 and issued an accompanying news release in which the chairman of BAT expressed his satisfaction that BAT was able to deliver “strong profit growth in 2012, achieved through good pricing and an outstanding improvement in operating margin”. […]
US Food & Drug Administration appoints new director of Center for Tobacco Products
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that Mitchell Zeller, J.D., will assume the role of director of the Center for Tobacco Products on March 4, 2013. He will replace Dr Lawrence Deyton, who, as the first head of the Center for Tobacco Products, led the unprecedented charge by the FDA to implement […]
Nicotine replacement therapy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The original URL is here. Ross MacKenzie, Macquarie University A study published in the latest edition of the journal Tobacco Control confirms what we’ve long suspected about nicotine replacement therapy (NRT): smokers don’t need to resort to these pharmaceuticals to quit. Researchers at the Harvard School of […]
Strengthening FCTC implementation: An overview from Seoul
Francis Thompson Framework Convention Alliance The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Conference of the Parties (COP) held its fifth session in Seoul, Korea from the 12th to the 17th of November 2012. There were a number of important developments, both in adopting new policy guidance for the 176 Parties to the FCTC and […]
UK Department of Health invites former BAT executive Kenneth Clarke to speak on “Trade for Better Health”
Kelley Lee London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine In an email invitation to its “Health is Global, Partners Forum”, held on 22 November 2012, the UK Department of Health expressed pleasure that The Right Honourable Kenneth Clarke QC MP (Minister without portfolio and Trade Envoy) would speak on Trade for Better Health. The one-day meeting […]
Global tobacco treaty meetings marred by industry interference
This article is republished from Citizen News Service under a Creative Commons License. Original link: http://www.citizen-news.org/2012/11/global-tobacco-treaty-meetings-marred.html Governments to industry: you’re not welcome The global tobacco treaty negotiations concluded on 17th November 2012 after a week of Big Tobacco’s attempts to derail, distract, and intimidate 175 countries from strengthening lifesaving measures required by the public health […]
Clouding the UK policy debate on plain packaging
Kelley Lee Associate Fellow, Centre on Global Health Security, Chatham House In July 2012, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) launched a campaign against the UK Department of Health’s consultation on the plain packaging of tobacco products. The UK is one of JTI’s top five markets worldwide and there are fears that the UK, and potentially […]
New interactive resource ‘Tobacco Body’
A new project has been developed by the Cancer Society of Finland. Intended primarily for schools and teachers to use for health education, it is an interactive website that shows the impact of smoking on different parts of the body. Click on the picture below to view the website, located at http://tobaccobody.fi. Please note: this […]
European Parliamentary Committee and Japan Tobacco: a violation of article 5.3 of the FCTC?
Andrew Rowell and Anna Gilmore Bath University, UK On 17 September 2012, the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control held a public hearing on tobacco smuggling under the auspices of its Hercule III programme. Hercule III’s primary operational objective is to improve ‘the prevention and investigation of fraud, smuggling and counterfeiting, especially of cigarettes, […]