Author credit: Marita Hefler and Stan Shatenstein On 2 May, the Sun newspaper reported that the UK government had decided to abandon cigarette plain packaging legislation. An announcement about the legislation had been widely tipped to be included in the Queen’s speech at the start of the next parliamentary session on 8 May. No other […]
#keeptheban campaign: Saying no to amending Wales’ smokefree premises legislation
Rosanne Palmer, ASH Wales In July 2012, on the same day that the National Assembly for Wales approved point of sale display bans for tobacco products in Welsh stores, the Welsh Government laid an amendment to Wales’ smokefree premises legislation to allow cast members to smoke on set for film and television productions. This move […]
Kosovo: new tobacco control law introduces world’s strongest protection against tobacco industry interference
Kosovo has surged ahead in tobacco control with the introduction of a comprehensive tobacco control law. Notable among the range of measures is the strongest protections against tobacco industry interference in the world, based on Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The measures, which will apply to the whole of […]
Open Access Supplement on Tobacco Control End Games
A fully open access supplement of Tobacco Control is now available. With 20 articles contributed by 27 authors it is rich with ideas and possibilities. Dr Kenneth Warner sets the scene for this themed supplement: In this supplement, some of the world’s most brilliant tobacco control scholars, strategists and activists, including those who originated the […]
“If it’s not cancer, I’ll give up smoking”
“I promise you, I will do everything I can to make sure you did not die in vain. I will tell the world your story, and the story of other people killed by tobacco. I will challenge the tobacco industry, the tobacco lobbyists, and the politicians who listen to them.” Replacement smokers are the lifeblood of the […]
The marketing of e-cigarettes: a UK snapshot
Marisa de Andrade & Gerard Hastings Institute for Social Marketing; University of Stirling marisa.deandrade1@stir.ac.uk Editor’s note: The United Kingdom’s health regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), is currently considering how to regulate ecigarettes. Given that marketing of these e-cigarettes is of particular concern, Marisa de Andrade and Gerard Hastings were commissioned by […]
Smoking in Japan: Deadly social norms behind a ‘warm-hearted’ story
Akihiro Nishi, Tetsutaro Matayoshi, Takahiro Shimizu, Masako Kinkozan, Ichiro Kawachi At the end of January, a local newspaper company in Okinawa, Japan, Ryukyu Shimpo, published an opinion letter from a young reader, entitled “Cool Big Brother”. The author, a first-year elementary school girl (aged 6 or 7) related a warm-hearted story of an affectionate granddaughter […]
SENEGAL: FIRST EVER NATIONAL TOBACCO CONTROL MASS MEDIA CAMPAIGN
Senegal has launched its first national mass media campaign about the harms of tobacco. Developed by the Ministry of Health and Social Action and World Lung Foundation, the campaign graphically depicts the tar that collects inside an average smoker’s lungs. It is hoped that the campaign will empower citizens with new knowledge, and also spur […]
Thailand leads the way with graphic health warnings
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 […]
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”. […]