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May 24th, 2017:

Indonesian teachers group declares anti-tobacco stance

Ahead of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, Indonesia’s largest teachers group signed on Wednesday a declaration to underline the role of educators in supporting measures for tobacco control.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/05/24/indonesian-teachers-group-declares-anti-tobacco-stance.html

Created by the Indonesian Teachers Association (PGRI), the declaration consists of six points, which include teachers’ commitment to “protect students from the dangers of smoking” and “oppose CSR [Corporate Social Responsibility] campaigns from the tobacco industry.”

Teachers also called on the government to create a comprehensive tobacco control regulations to curb cigarette consumption.

“Teachers have to be role models for their pupils by not smoking […] Exemplary acts by teachers are very strategic in the [anti-tobacco] campaign,” PGRI chairwoman Unifah Rosyidi said at the declaration’s signing event in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Wednesday.

The event was organized by the National Commission on Tobacco Control (Komnas PT), a coalition of organizations that has been staunchly campaigning for tobacco related issues in Indonesia, one of the world’s biggest tobacco consumers.

Komnas PT chairman Prijo Sidipratomo welcomed the declaration, saying that it was in line with one of PGRI’s missions to support the country’s development.

“Some 25 percent of students’ daily time is spent at school, which highlights the role of teachers in shaping their way of life,” Prijo said. (rin)

Cuba Updates its Regulations Related to Tobacco Consumption

Updating the existing regulations to control smoking in public places is part of Cuba”s campaign to celebrate World No Tobacco Day, to be held on May 31.

http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=13257&SEO=cuba-updates-its-regulations-related-to-tobacco-consumption

The head of the Department of School Health at the Ministry of Education (Mined), Yanira Gomez, reminded at a press conference held in this capital that since 1974 there is a regulation that prohibits smoking in institutions and state entities, including schools.

The regulations are designed to be effective, taking into account the particularities of each educational system; and despite the existing literature, it is also necessary to promote initiatives that contribute, from the methodology to the stipulated in the legal framework already established, said Gómez.

World No Tobacco Day was established by the World Health Organization and its partners in order to highlight the health risks associated with smoking and to advocate for effective policies to reduce its consumption.

This year’s campaign aims to mobilize the main social actors, as well as adolescent and young children, in the fight against exposure to tobacco smoke and in terms of sustainable development.

Finnish biotech firm claims breakthrough in smoking intervention

Biohit reveals that it received hundreds of enquiries following the publication of the results of a medical trial confirming that its Acetium lozenge is an effective, non-addictive means to quit smoking.

The Helsinki-based biotechnology firm also saw its share price jump by 7.4 per cent on the Helsinki Stock Exchange on Monday.

http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/business/14775-finnish-biotech-firm-claims-breakthrough-in-smoking-intervention.html

“We’ve received an astonishing number of contacts and enquiries – not only from Finland but in fact more from outside Finland,” Semi Korpela, the chief executive of the biotechnology firm, says to Uusi Suomi.

He believes the high interest in the results can be attributed primarily to two factors: first, because the active substance was shown to cause no side-effects and, second, because the active substance is neither addictive nor a a nicotine replacement.

“The efficacy is comparable to nicotine replacement therapy,” he said in a press release on Monday.

Kari Syrjänen, the chief medical director at Biohit, described the results of the second smoking intervention study as “a breakthrough in the development of smoking intervention methods”.

The intervention study confirmed that the lozenge is an effective tool in assisting the cessation of smoking due to its capability to absorb acetaldehyde derived from cigarette smoke in saliva, thus potentially reducing the effects of acetaldehyde in maintaining smoking addiction. Acetaldehyde has been labelled as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The study was adequately powered to confirm the results of the first intervention study and their statistical significance, according to the press release from Biohit.

Korpela reveals that the biotechnology firm will now begin re-branding and re-packaging the Acetium lozenge. The product, he adds, has already been available in web-shops but has yet been marketed as a smoking cessation aid due to lack of proof of its efficacy.

After the re-packaging and other preparations have been completed, the lozenge will be made available both domestically and globally, he says. “There are still plenty of smokers in the world. There are large smoking countries in Asia, as well as in Europe and the Middle East. There’s quite a few of them. Why should we rule out anything?” says Korpela.