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June 3rd, 2017:

Hong Kong Customs seizes suspected illicit cigarettes

Jun 3rd, 2017
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Hong Kong Customs yesterday (June 2) seized about 1.5 million suspected illicit cigarettes with an estimated market value of about $4.1 million and a duty potential of about $2.9 million at Man Kam To Control Point.

http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201706/03/P2017060200961.htm

Customs officers intercepted an incoming truck declared to contain cloth at Man Kam To Control Point yesterday. After inspection, Customs officers found about 1.5 million suspected illicit cigarettes inside 156 carton boxes. A male driver, aged 52, was arrested and the truck has been detained for further investigation. Investigation is ongoing.

Smuggling is a serious offence. Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.

Members of the public may report any suspected illicit cigarette activities to the Customs 24-hour hotline 2545 6182.

Ends/Saturday, June 3, 2017
Issued at HKT 15:30

“Stop Smoking, Save Lives”

Jun 3rd, 2017
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Tobacco in various forms has proved beyond all reasonable doubt to be a killing machine. Despite the information available, the Tobacco Industry continues to succeed by using manipulative tactics to attract both the young and the old.

http://www.businessghana.com/site/news/general/146769/%E2%80%9CStop-Smoking%2C-Save-Lives%E2%80%9D

31st May is World No – Tobacco Day and was used to raise awareness on the harmful effects of tobacco use. The war on curbing smoking for instance continues but globally we are a far cry from winning. The theme for this year is “Tobacco, a threat to development”.

Smoking harms almost every organ of the body and causes ill health. Unfortunately non-smokers who inhale the fumes (passive smoker) are also at risk of the many disease conditions caused by tobacco. Do not be deceived by those who claim that Shisha is a safer alternative. It may actually be more disastrous since several other additives are mixed with the tobacco. Some people even share the pipes bringing into play several other contact diseases.

Tobacco use in various forms puts a strain on many economies as money is channeled into taking care of many illnesses that this killing machine may have caused. The worst news is that many of these people eventually die prematurely or are in no position to contribute actively to the work force.

Growing the plants also requires the use of a lot of pesticides and fertilisers that also end up harming the environment. Whichever way you look at it, messing up with tobacco is a death sentence and it does it slowly causing you pain and raining poverty on you.

STAGGERING FACTS

Secondhand Smoke and Death

This causes an extremely high number of deaths from lung cancer and heart disease so do not look on passively and inhale smoke from someone else

Premature Deaths

The life expectancy of those who smoke cigarette is at least 10 years less than a non-smoker

Quitting smoking before age 40 reduces the risk of dying from smoking-related diseases by about 90%

Do not deceive yourself and start hoping to quit on your fortieth birthday.

Increased risk for death among men and women

There is an increased risk of death from lung diseases such as bronchitis, emphysema, cancer of the lungs, trachea, bronchus

Death from cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) disease such as a stroke is also very high among both males and females.

Cancers

Virtually no organ in the body is spared; bladder, stomach, oesophagus, pancreas. The list is long and essentially if you can remember a part of the body then it is likely smoking can cause cancer there.

Oral Care

Tobacco surely affects teeth and gum and in addition to discolouration of teeth it may also lead to teeth loss

Fertility and Childbirth

Getting pregnant and carrying the baby to term is a challenge

Affects a man’s sperm and may lead to sterility

Babies may be born before term or are born with very low birthweight exposing them to other disease conditions

Lifestyle Diseases

The risk of Type II Diabetes is high and also smoking makes it difficult to control the condition

It increases risk of high blood pressure and makes its control difficult.

It thickens the walls of blood vessels and narrows their lumen making it difficult for blood to blood and increasing the pressure against the walls of the blood vessel.

We all need to play a role to stop the harmful effects of tobacco use; cigarette smoking, pipe smoking, huffing and puffing on Shisha is not fashionable. It does not make you look “cool” and even if you do not smoke yet fail to advise those you mingle with to stop, you will also be at risk of several diseases.

AS ALWAYS LAUGH OFTEN, WALK AND PRAY EVERYDAY AND REMEMBER IT’S A PRICELESS GIFT TO KNOW YOUR NUMBERS (blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, BMI)

Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel

Health Essentials/St Andrews Clinic

(www.healthclubsgh.com)

Dr Essel is a medical doctor, holds an MBA and is ISSA certified in exercise therapy and fitness nutrition.

Thought for the week – “prevention is certainly better than cure BUT when you fall ill seek a cure immediately instead of holding unto preventive measures only.”

References:

www.who.int/tobaco/wntd
CDC – Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking

Big tobacco’s big profits

Jun 3rd, 2017
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Why are tobacco companies’ profits still booming – despite government regulation and declining smoking rates?

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/countingthecost/2017/06/big-tobacco-big-profits-170603092904305.html

Smoking kills. So if you’re in an industry where your product is known to be damaging the health of people who buy it, then you should, in theory, go out of business.

But shares in companies listed in the Bloomberg tobacco producers index have risen 351 percent since 2009, making it one of the best investments of the past decade.

Graphic warning labels and taxes seem to have some effect on reducing the number of smokers but less so on industry profits which keep rising. And investors can’t quit buying the stocks because operating profits continue to go up.

Although some pension funds and life insurers have turned their back on the sector, it’s still not enough to hit big tobacco where it hurts.

Different tax regimes around the world mostly account for the difference in price of cigarettes. But governments are not as hooked as the consumers who buy cigarettes.

Consumers cough up for higher prices because they crave the drug in tobacco – nicotine. Without nicotine addiction, there would be no tobacco industry.

The tobacco industry knows this and has diversified to develop other nicotine products like E-cigarettes. The electronic cigarette market has grown from just $50m in 2005 to an estimated $7.5bn last year, according to Euromonitor. It’s all part of the unique economy of addiction.

New evidence suggests the dangers of cigarettes in the United States have increased despite the fall of smoking rates in recent years. A new study has found that so-called “light” cigarettes may be behind a spike in lung cancer cases, as Heidi Zhou-Castro reports.

Jeremias Paul from the World Health Organization joins Counting the Cost from Geneva to discuss the unique dynamics of the nicotine economy.

Paul thinks the tobacco industry should pay more taxes because they’re making a profit out of people’s addiction.

“If they cause death, they should be taxed to death. In the latest global adult tobacco survey, there was a reduction in tobacco use of about 20 percent, which essentially proves increasing taxes regenerates a lot of revenues but at the same time reduces consumption.”

WHO China launches smoke-free campaign targeting youth

Jun 3rd, 2017
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The World Health Organization (WHO) started a “smoke-free generation” media campaign in Beijing Thursday targeting young Chinese.

http://www.china.org.cn/china/2017-06/03/content_40957899.htm

China is in the grip of a national tobacco epidemic, and children are most susceptible with cigarettes portrayed as fashionable and alluring in popular culture, said Bernhard Schwartlander, WHO Representative in China at the launch event.

According to WHO, over half of Chinese adult men smoke, two thirds of whom started as young adults. By 2014, 72.9 percent Chinese students had been exposed to secondhand smoke.

“There is nothing cool about smoking, but there is something empowering about choosing to live a healthy, smoke-free life,” said Schwartlander.

Since China ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005, the country has made a number of tobacco control efforts, including banning tobacco advertisements, increasing tobacco taxes and putting forward regional smoking bans.

As of 2016, 18 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, had implemented regional smoking bans.

China has set a target to reduce the smoking rate among people aged 15 and older to 20 percent by 2030 from the current 27.7 percent, according to the “Healthy China 2030″ blueprint issued by the central authorities last October.