PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

The Lancet: Experts call for a tobacco-free world by 2040

2015-03-13
(Press-News.org) Leading public health researchers today [Friday 13 March 2015] call for the sale of tobacco to be phased out by 2040, showing that with sufficient political support and stronger evidence-based action against the tobacco industry, a tobacco-free world - where less than 5% of adults use tobacco - could be possible in less than three decades. Writing in a major new Series in The Lancet, an international group of health and policy experts, led by Professors Robert Beaglehole and Ruth Bonita from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, call on the United Nations (UN) to lead a "turbo-charged" effort against the sale and consumption of tobacco [see Paper 1]. The Series will be launched in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, at the 2015 World Conference on Tobacco or Health, the world's largest gathering of tobacco control advocates, policy makers, researchers, public health and clinical experts. One billion deaths from smoking and other forms of tobacco use are expected by the end of this century if efforts to tackle tobacco use are not accelerated. More than 80% of these deaths will be in low- and middle-income countries, whose populations will be most severely affected by the devastating economic and social burden of tobacco illness caused by tobacco in coming decades. According to Professor Beaglehole, "The time has come for the world to acknowledge the unacceptability of the damage being done by the tobacco industry and work towards a world essentially free from the legal and illegal sale of tobacco products. A world where tobacco is out of sight, out of mind, and out of fashion - yet not prohibited - is achievable in less than three decades from now, but only with full commitment from governments, international agencies, such as UN and WHO, and civil society."* A decade on from WHO's landmark introduction of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), only 15% of the world's population have adequate access to smoking cessation programmes. Moreover, less than one in ten people worldwide are covered by tobacco taxation at levels recommended by the FCTC, despite research showing that increasing the cost of tobacco to the consumer through taxation is one of the most effective ways to reduce consumption. In the same period, 50 million deaths have been caused by tobacco, indicating that the FCTC alone is insufficient to achieve substantive reductions in the use of tobacco. In a new research Article, published in The Lancet to accompany the Series, Professor Kenji Shibuya from the University of Tokyo, Japan, and colleagues show that although overall rates of smoking are slowly declining, the prevalence of tobacco usage is actually expected to increase in some countries over the next decade, notably in Africa and the Middle East. And because the world's population is rising, there will still be more than one billion smokers in 2025, unless global action against tobacco accelerates markedly. Although implementation of the FCTC has been successful in some countries (particularly in those such as Australia, New Zealand, Finland, United Kingdom, Ireland, Scotland and some Pacific Island countries, which have led the way in implementing strong tobacco reduction policies), global tobacco regulation now needs to be "turbo-charged", say the Series' authors. This can be achieved by accelerating the FCTC in individual countries where implementation has been slow or incomplete, including tobacco reduction goals in the Sustainable Development Goals - which are expected to strongly influence UN member states' agendas and political policies over the next 15 years -, and for the UN to take a leading role in galvanising global and national action to eliminate the sale and use of tobacco. While FCTC regulations have done much to reduce tobacco usage, the Series' authors argue that until now, regulatory efforts have been too focused on reducing demand for tobacco, and further progress will be threatened unless the supply of tobacco - dominated by just four major international companies, and the state-owned Chinese National Tobacco Company - can be tackled through stronger regulations and closer scrutiny of the industry's conduct. Falling rates of tobacco usage in high-income countries have increased the need for the "big four" tobacco companies to turn their attention to low- and middle-income countries, especially in Africa and Asia [see Paper 3]. Tactics include industrial litigation, lobbying through third-party groups (whose links to industry aren't always clear), and covert maintenance of political pressure disguised as "corporate social responsibility", including sponsorship of social projects, and events aimed at women or young people. "Contrary to industry claims, tobacco marketing deliberately targets women and young people,"* says Professor Anna Gilmore, from the University of Bath, UK. "The tobacco industry continues to interfere with governments' efforts to implement effective tobacco control policies. If the world is to become tobacco free, it's vital that the industry's appalling conduct receives far closer scrutiny and countries which stand up to the industry's bullying tactics receive better global support ."* While the "big four" tobacco companies dominate the industry in much of the world, in China, tobacco production is controlled by the state-owned Chinese National Tobacco Company [see Paper 2]. Here, implementation of effective tobacco regulations has been hindered by the fact that tobacco production, sales, and regulation are all effectively controlled by the same, state-owned, body. With China thought to have 300 million smokers - more than any other country on Earth - the government now needs to build on the progress it has made in some areas of tobacco control, and separate out tobacco regulation from a powerful industry whose interests rely on smoking continuing. According to Professor Gonghuan Yang, from the Peking Union Medical College in Beijing, China, "The prevalence of tobacco use among adult men in China is one of the highest in the world and is increasing; 1·4 million deaths in China were attributed to tobacco use in 2010".* While some promising developments in nationwide legislation are under consideration - including protecting people from second-hand smoke and banning all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship - the next challenge will be to increase cigarette tax and changes to health warnings on standardised cigarette packaging to reduce tobacco consumption. Professor Yang states "China has the potential to be successful in tackling the pandemic of tobacco use among Chinese people, but only if the governmental structure is changed to allow tobacco regulations to be implemented independently from the tobacco industry."* A research Article published in The Lancet Global Health alongside the Series uses extended cost-effectiveness analysis (ECEA) to show that in China a substantial (e.g. 50%) increase in tobacco price through excise tax can be a pro-poor policy instrument that brings substantial health and financial benefits to households in China, especially concentrated among the poorest socio-economic groups.

INFORMATION:

NOTES TO EDITORS: *Quote direct from author and cannot be found in text of Article.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Antibiotic nanoparticles attack respiratory infection and reduce drug side effects

2015-03-13
Estoril, Portugal: Treating respiratory disease is often difficult because drugs have to cross biological barriers such as respiratory tissue and mucosa, and must therefore be given in large quantities in order for an effective amount to reach the target. Now researchers from Germany, Brazil and France have shown that the use of nanoparticles to carry antibiotics across biological barriers can be effective in treating lung infections. Doing so allows better delivery of the drug to the site of infection, and hence prevents the development of antibiotic resistance which ...

Chronic kidney disease may increase certain risks during pregnancy

2015-03-12
Highlights Among pregnant women, the risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes--such as preterm delivery or the need for neonatal intensive care--increased across stages of chronic kidney disease. The risks of intrauterine death or fetal malformations were not higher in women with chronic kidney disease. An estimated 26 million people in the United States have chronic kidney disease. Washington, DC (March 12, 2015) -- Even mild kidney disease during pregnancy may increase certain risks in the mother and baby, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of ...

New evidence that increasing economic inequality rises out of political partisanship

2015-03-12
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Political scientists at the University at Buffalo and Pennsylvania State University have published new research investigating how partisan differences in macroeconomic policy have contributed to substantial and rising economic inequality in the United States. The negative consequences of such policy decisions, researchers found, have a greater impact on people at the lower end of the economic spectrum, but are "significantly more muted" for those at the higher end of the spectrum. The study, "Partisan Differences in the Distributional Effects of Economic ...

Building a genomic GPS

2015-03-12
WORCESTER, MA - A new "app" for finding and mapping chromosomal loci using multicolored versions of CRISPR/Cas9, one of the hottest tools in biomedical research today, has been developed by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. This labeling system, details of which were published in PNAS and first presented at the American Society for Cell Biology/International Federation for Cell Biology annual meeting in Philadelphia in December, could be a key to understanding the spatial and temporal regulation of gene expression by allowing researchers to measure ...

E-cigarette advertising makes one crave ... tobacco?

2015-03-12
Television advertisements for e-cigarettes may be enticing current and even former tobacco smokers to reach for another cigarette. That is the finding by researchers Erin K. Maloney, Ph.D. and Joseph N. Cappella, Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication, as reported in the journal Health Communication (online, March 2015). The researchers studied more than 800 daily, intermittent, and former smokers who watched e-cigarette advertising, and who then took a survey to determine smoking urges, intentions, and behaviors. Using a standard ...

NASA's Hubble observations suggest underground ocean on Jupiter's largest moon

NASAs Hubble observations suggest underground ocean on Jupiters largest moon
2015-03-12
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has the best evidence yet for an underground saltwater ocean on Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon. The subterranean ocean is thought to have more water than all the water on Earth's surface. Identifying liquid water is crucial in the search for habitable worlds beyond Earth and for the search of life as we know it. "This discovery marks a significant milestone, highlighting what only Hubble can accomplish," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, Washington. "In its 25 years ...

Toddlers in trouble

2015-03-12
CHICAGO --- A father's depression during the first years of parenting - as well as a mother's - can put their toddler at risk of developing troubling behaviors such as hitting, lying, anxiety and sadness during a critical time of development, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study. This is one of the first studies to show that the impact of a father's depression from postpartum to toddlerhood is the same as a mother's. Previous studies have focused mostly on mothers with postpartum depression and found that their symptoms may impact their children's behavior during ...

Unique proteins found in heat-loving organisms attach to plant matter

2015-03-12
Unique proteins newly discovered in heat-loving bacteria are more than capable of attaching themselves to plant cellulose, possibly paving the way for more efficient methods of converting plant matter into biofuels. The unusual proteins, called tapirins (derived from the Maori verb 'to join'), bind tightly to cellulose, a key structural component of plant cell walls, enabling these bacteria to break down cellulose. The conversion of cellulose to liquid biofuels, such as ethanol, is paramount to the use of renewable feedstocks. In a paper published online in the Journal ...

New protocol can help emergency departments evaluate patients with acute chest pain

2015-03-12
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - March 12, 2015 - A recently developed risk-evaluation protocol can help hospital emergency department personnel more efficiently determine which patients with acute chest pain can be sent home safely, according to a randomized trial conducted at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. The study, published in the current online issue of the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, found that chest-pain patients who were evaluated with the new protocol, called the HEART Pathway, had 12 percent fewer cardiac tests, ...

Satellite sees rare subtropical storm 90Q in southern Atlantic

Satellite sees rare subtropical storm 90Q in southern Atlantic
2015-03-12
The Brazilian Navy Hydrographic Centre reported that a sub-tropical storm had formed on March 11 near east of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, the southeastern most state in Brazil. NOAA's GOES-East satellite provided imagery of the Atlantic that showed Subtropical Cyclone 90Q off the southeastern coast of Brazil at 17:45 UTC (1:45 p.m. EDT). The system appeared to have fragmented banding of thunderstorms around the low-level center. The image was created by NASA/NOAA's GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. At 1200 UTC (8 ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Storing electrons from hydrogen for clean chemical reactions

Unlocking how to use mRNA to target Alzheimer’s disease

Kessler Foundation secures $770,000 in grants to advance leading-edge spinal cord research

Going ‘back to the future’ to forecast the fate of a dead Florida coral reef

How extratropical ocean-atmosphere interactions can contribute to the variability of jet streams in the Northern Hemisphere

MSK Research Highlights, March 28, 2024

USDA, Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College collaborate to support Indigenous Seed Sovereignty

For younger women, mental health now may predict heart health later

Missed opportunity: AEDs near cardiac arrests rarely used by bystanders

Eggs may not be bad for your heart after all

Alcohol raises heart disease risk, particularly among women

TTUHSC announces new center for nursing research

Adding just enough fuel to the fire

Impact of synbiotic supplements on the gut microbiome and overall health of penguins

Promising advances in organosilica membranes for separating organic liquid mixtures

Cell phone video technology unveils new method for analyzing walking and gait

Ancient isolation’s impact on modern ecology

Synaptic protein change during development offers clues on evolution and disease

How commercial rooftop solar power could bring affordable clean energy to low-income homes

Taking a closer look at pulmonary fibrosis genetics

Cats with MDR1 mutation at risk of severe reactions to popular medication

IOP Publishing and IPEM mandate reporting of sex and gender in research 

Dogs trained to detect trauma stress by smelling humans’ breath

Electronic device thermal management made simpler and slightly better!

Study: Dangerous surgical site infections can be reduced with simple prevention protocol

Genetic testing of patients with atrial fibrillation can alert clinicians to potential development of life-threatening conditions

Artificial Intelligence tool successfully predicts fatal heart rhythm

What progress has China made in agriculture green development over the past five years?

ALMA finds new molecular signposts in starburst galaxy

Open waste burning linked to air pollution in Northwestern Greenland

[Press-News.org] The Lancet: Experts call for a tobacco-free world by 2040