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July 20th, 2017:

Tobacco companies interfere with health regulations, WHO reports

Jul 20th, 2017
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Tobacco industry is interfering with government attempts to regulate products and aggressively pursuing new markets in Africa, World Health Organization says

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/19/tobacco-industry-government-policy-interference-regulations

Cigarette manufacturers are attempting to thwart government tobacco controls wherever possible, even as governments make progress regulating the products, a new World Health Organization report has found.

World health officials also warn that tobacco companies have moved their fight to the developing world, such as Africa, where smoking rates are predicted to rise by double digits in the coming decades.

“Tobacco industry interference in government policymaking represents a deadly barrier to advancing health and development in many countries,” said Douglas Bettcher, director of the WHO’s department for the prevention of noncommunicable diseases. “But by monitoring and blocking such activities, we can save lives and sow the seeds for a sustainable future for all.”

Tobacco-related diseases are the leading preventable cause of death worldwide. The products kill more than 7 million people each year – more than HIV and Aids, tuberculosis and malaria combined. The effects of the substance are also costly. Researchers believe that tobacco-related harm costs the world $1.4tn in healthcare costs and lost productivity.

A recent investigation by the Guardian found that tobacco companies, including British American Tobacco, threatened African countries with domestic and trade lawsuits if certain anti-smoking measures were put in place. BAT says it is not against all regulations but needs to take action from “time to time”.

A Reuters investigation found that BAT’s arch-rival, Philip Morris International, developed a vast lobbying campaign to delay and prevent tobacco controls. PMI says there is nothing improper about its executives engaging with government officials.

Wednesday’s WHO report, which was funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, comes on the same day as a shareholder vote on a $49bn merger between BAT and Reynolds American Incorporated, a deal that would make BAT the largest listed tobacco company in the world.

“The epicentre of this epidemic has moved to the developing world,” said Dr Vera Luiza da Costa e Silva, head of WHO’s convention secretariat. “Low- and middle-income countries struggle to combat a tobacco industry seeking to pursue new markets, often through shameless interference with public health policymaking.”

Currently, the World Health Organization recommends countries put in place six regulations health officials see as critical to reducing smoking: systems to monitor smoking rates; laws to protect people from secondhand smoke; tools to help people quit; warnings about the dangers of tobacco use; enforcement of advertising bans, and increased taxes on tobacco products.

Six in 10 countries have implemented at least one of the six protections, officials said, four times the population that was protected in 2007.

However, progress is lopsided. Some recommendations have been far more widely accepted than others. For example, 3.5 billion people in 78 countries are protected by graphic warnings on cigarette packs, but only 15% of the world’s population is protected by a comprehensive advertising ban, and high tobacco taxes, while very effective, are one of the least-implemented measures.

Even some wealthier nations have had trouble getting tobacco control measures in effect. In the United States, for example, there are no graphic warnings on cigarette packs because of industry lawsuits and regulatory delay, and tobacco taxes remain low.

Anti-tobacco lawmakers and campaigners in the US blame the slow progress on “pervasive” tobacco industry influence, which reaches all the way to top officials in the Trump White House.

“Working together, countries can prevent millions of people from dying each year from preventable tobacco-related illness,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general. “Governments around the world must waste no time”.

Bloomberg Philanthropies funds Vital Strategies, which part funds the Guardian’s Tobacco: a deadly business series, the content of which is editorially independent.

UN Reports More People Warned Against Tobacco Use

Jul 20th, 2017
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Despite measures protecting a majority of people from tobacco-related illness and death, the tobacco industry continues to hamper Government efforts to fully implement life and cost-saving interventions, the United Nations health agency reported.

http://www.womenofchina.cn/womenofchina/html1/features/health/1707/4690-1.htm

“One-third of countries have comprehensive systems to monitor tobacco use. While this is up from one-quarter of countries monitoring tobacco use at recommended levels in 2007, Governments still need to do more to prioritize or finance this area of work,” according to the UN World Health Organization’s WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, which was launched today on side-lines of the UN High-level political forum on sustainable development in New York.

The report shows that some 4.7 billion people – more than 60 per cent of the population – are protected by at least one “best practice” tobacco control measure from the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). These measures include no smoking areas and bans on advertising tobacco products, for example.

In the foreword to the report, the head of WHO urged Governments to incorporate all the provisions of the WHO FCTC into their national tobacco control programmes and policies, and to fight against the illicit tobacco trade.

“Working together, countries can prevent millions of people from dying each year from preventable tobacco-related illness, and save billions of dollars a year in avoidable health-care expenditures and productivity losses,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

The report, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, noted that systematic monitoring of tobacco industry interference in government policymaking protects public health by shedding light on tobacco industry tactics.

Such tactics include “exaggerating the economic importance of the tobacco industry, discrediting proven science and using litigation to intimidate governments.”

Douglas Bettcher, director of WHO’s Department for the Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs), said tobacco industry interference in government policy making represents “a deadly barrier to advancing health and development in many countries.

Controlling tobacco use is a key part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Agenda includes targets to strengthen national implementation of the WHO FCTC and a one-third reduction in premature deaths from NCDs, including heart and lung diseases, cancer and diabetes, according to a press release launching the report.

“The progress that’s been made worldwide – and documented throughout this report – shows that it is possible for countries to turn the tide,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Comprehensive Tobacco Bill Drafted

Jul 20th, 2017
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Minister of Health, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, says a comprehensive Tobacco Control Bill has been developed and is under review.

http://jis.gov.jm/comprehensive-tobacco-bill-drafted/

Making his contribution to a private member’s motion brought by Member of Parliament for Central Kingston, Rev. Ronald Thwaites, on public health issues arising from tobacco and ganja use, in the House of Representatives on July 18, Dr. Tufton said the comprehensive legislation seeks to address critical matters which have not been addressed under the existing Tobacco Control Regulations.

These, he said, include: regulating the interactions of Government officials with the tobacco industry; and regulating price and tax measures in a manner that will effectively contribute to the reduction of tobacco consumption.

Other focus areas of the Bill include: testing and measurement of the contents and emissions of tobacco products and provisions for the disclosure of toxic substances to the public; full prohibition on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, including a ban on point-of- sale tobacco displays; and Jamaica’s commitment to eliminate all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products.

“The Bill will also prohibit sale of all forms of tobacco products to and by minors. The Child Care and Protection Act (CCPA) does not prohibit the sale of tobacco products in general (including electronic nicotine delivery systems) to and by minors,” Dr. Tufton
said.

He noted that the current provision restrictively references cigarettes, cigars, cheroots and cigarillos.

The Minister added that attempts were being made by the Office of the Children’s Advocate to amend the CCPA to accord with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) requirements.

“Therefore priority areas for the Government include: full implementation of a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; enacting a comprehensive tobacco control legislation; and reducing demand on tobacco products
through increased taxes,” Dr. Tufton said.

He noted that multi-sectoral collaborations on the drafting of the Bill have been completed and a report is to be submitted to each of the portfolio ministries for their final comments.

The Ministry has also engaged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade to lead the process, which involves deliberations among legal personnel from the various ministries.

A Cabinet submission is to be developed in relation to this legislation.

Fariñas, Marcos swap raps of stealing original tobacco fund papers

Jul 20th, 2017
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House Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Fariñas has called out Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos for her “very cheap and wild desperation shot,” after she accused him of stealing the original documents on transactions using proceeds from the tobacco excise tax.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/915402/farinas-marcos-swap-raps-of-stealing-original-tobacco-fund-papers

Marcos claimed in a Wednesday statement that Fariñas’ personnel swiped the original documents from the Commission on Audit’s office inside the provincial capitol. She added that the Ilocos Six officials only declined to give sworn statements on the photocopies presented to avoid the risk of committing perjury.

Sought for comment, Fariñas called out Marcos for “coming up with a yarn” and shot back that “her people stole the original documents and now claim the loss of such as their alibi not to remember the transactions subject of the inquiry”

“Really? Who’s using the loss of the originals as an alibi in not remembering the transactions under question?” he exclaimed.

At the same time, he mocked Marcos for appearing in a July 13 press conference in Manila, where she compared the investigation to the politics of Game of Thrones and quoted: “The North remembers and it never forgets.”

“She even borrowed a line from the Game of Thrones that the North remembers! Really? How come the Amnesiac 6 do not remember the P66.45M cash advances that Imee gave them?” Fariñas said.

“She should appear at the hearing, if she is really from the North, and show the Filipino people how she’ll help the Amnesiac 6 remember their suspicious cash transactions.”

Fariñas also called out Marcos for asking the Supreme Court to prohibit the House good government and public accountability committee’s inquiry while going on “a media blitz for her false statements.”

“The public clearly sees who is spending millions of pesos to cover up the loss of the bulk of P66.45M of tobacco funds,” he said.

The Ilocos Six refers to the following employees: provincial planning and development officer and bids and awards committee chair Pedro Agcaoili, provincial budget officer Evangeline Tabulog, provincial treasurer Josephine Calajate, accountant Eden Battulayan, and treasury office staff Genedine Jambaro and Encarnacion Gaor.

They were detained at the House since May 29 after giving unsatisfactory answers during the committee inquiry on the alleged misuse of P66.45-million tobacco tax proceeds to purchase government vehicles supposedly without public bidding, instead of spending on projects for the benefit of tobacco farmers. SFM

 

Raise tax on tobacco and make smokers pay for health costs

Jul 20th, 2017
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I support Gauri Venkitaraman’s plea for bans in public areas where the permeation of cigarette smoke is harmful for passers-by or those trying to enjoy the outdoors (“Smoking in public leaves even non-smokers in Hong Kong facing serious health risks [1]”, July 11).

Non-smokers in proximity risk having their asthma flare up. Curious toddlers could become poisoned by ingesting carelessly discarded butts.

The fire contagion risk posed by still-burning cigarette ends is well known during the height of Australia’s bush-fire-prone sizzling summer and hot summers elsewhere.

Less smoking means fewer discarded butts posing a fire hazard. Another reason to impose smoking bans is to prevent adverse lifestyle role modelling for impressionable children.

From a public health perspective, raising tobacco sales tax is likely to reduce daily cigarette consumption and, more importantly, dissuade adolescents from taking up smoking. The cost disincentive of a higher tax holds the potential to improve the community burden of heart and lung disease that consumes avoidable health-care outlays.

It’s about time smokers who adopt unhealthy life habits subsidised the huge expense incurred in treating the acute exacerbation of chronic lung disease, pulmonary community rehabilitation as well as stents and bypass surgery required to alleviate coronary artery disease. Smokers have an addiction requiring an external agency to help them give up.

Imposing higher taxes on fast food and alcohol offers opportunities to improve public health related to “diabesity” (diabetes plus obesity), alcohol-related trauma and interpersonal violence. If we can extend sales tax disincentives to fast food and alcohol, then claims that a tobacco tax discriminates against smokers cannot be justified.

Joseph Ting, associate professor, School of Public Health and

Social Work, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
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Source URL: http://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2103457/raise-tax-tobacco-and-make-smokers-pay-health-costs