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FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK
It is wonderful to read the stories of the experiences of people who have quit; what they have done and how well they are doing over time. Reading through the blogs you get a sense of the initial struggle being replaced by the satisfaction of having made some progress. For newcomers the strength that comes from the success stories is evident and conveys hope that they too can quit smoking. Here is an uncorrected lift from one of the blogs that illustrates what I am saying: "...it will be three months and one week for me so that is good, haven't) had a craving for nearly two weeks now and i doing alright when family members light up round me i see to be able to handle it,..." And then there is this one: "I had my 'last' cig on Saturday night. I didn't know about this site. Got through Sunday, got through Monday, bought a packet Tuesday, had I...felt v guilty. A workmate introduced me to this site and gave me the rest of his patches. I am now waiting for my pack. I am feeling so much more in control now with the patches and am not craving as much as before. It all seems more possible now. Really liking the support I'm seeing here. Nice change from the lecturing 'support' I'm getting from my non-smoking friends..." In tobacco control we quite rightly do most of our work from an evidence base. There is not a lot of evidence to support this kind of cessation activity but for some it seems to work, so more strength to it I say! Well done Quit for thinking this up. If I had any advice about the future of the site it would be leave it alone to find its own dynamic. If smokers use it for quit support then it is working. Let's also not forget the battle some of our smokefree workforce faces as they attempt to carry the message. So well done to the smokefree workers in South Canterbury who are battling to get smokefree parks introduced in their area. It can be really hard sticking to your guns in the face of vehement opposition, which sometimes includes personal attacks. But the smokefree community is behind you, so give it your all! Here in Wellington we can report that the smokefree Upper Hutt parks policy has gone extremely well and is sending all the right messages to young people about not starting to smoke. Every advance we have made in tobacco control has been hard won and this will be no exception. Have a good break over Christmas and come back refreshed to resume the work you are doing. You can do so in the knowledge that in time you will win. Well this is the end for 2006. I must thank the SFC Board for being so supportive to me this year, particularly to the Chair Jane Patterson and to all of you who have supplied the material for the Update. For me this year has been a huge learning experience and I am looking forward to 2007. Seasons Greetings to you all. Keep safe (slip, slop, slap and wrap), and you can expect to see the next Tobacco Control Update on 17 January 2007. Mark Peck Director IN THIS ISSUE:
SMOKING PREVALENCE FALLING TOO SLOWLYThe Smokefree Coalition is calling for an urgent increase in tobacco tax to speed-up reductions in smoking prevalence in New Zealand. The Ministry of Health has released its annual Tobacco Trends publication, which showed smoking prevalence at 23.5 percent compared with 23 percent last year. Large ethnic differences persist, with Māori and Pacific peoples having higher smoking rates than other New Zealanders. Director Mark Peck says it is well known that people smoke more when tobacco and cigarettes are affordable. "Despite strong tobacco control measures in this country - such as smokefree bars and restaurants - smoking prevalence is not reducing fast enough. This is because tobacco products have become relatively more affordable over the past six years - we haven't had a one-off increase in tobacco taxation since 2000. Meanwhile, real disposable incomes have increased, making cigarettes more affordable. "The Coalition would like to see an immediate substantial increase in the taxation of tobacco, as well as regular annual increases in tobacco taxation. These increases must be significantly greater than any rise in the consumer price index. A significant proportion of the taxation revenue raised should go back into tobacco control to help people to quit and discourage young people from starting to smoke. Mark Peck says past tobacco tax increases have had quick and dramatic results. "There were large drops in the sales of cigarettes after the price increases of 1991, 1998 and 2000. "On average, a price rise of 10 percent would be expected to reduce demand for tobacco products by about four percent in a country like New Zealand. Every year at Christmas time we have a big focus on the road toll - with around 400 people tragically dying on the roads each year. But let's not forget that over 10 times that many die annually from tobacco use - around 5000 people, many of them in middle age. "The Government needs to put up tobacco tax or we will continue to see this massive loss of life."
This graph clearly shows the large drop in the sales of cigarettes after tobacco tax increases in New Zealand in 1991, 1998 and 2000. SMOKEFREE SUPPORT AT 90 PERCENTNew Zealanders are embracing a smokefree lifestyle, with nine out of ten supporting the right to live and work in a smokefree environment, a Ministry of Health report says. The report - After the Smoke Has Cleared: Evaluation of the Impact of a New Smokefree Law - was carried out by the University of Otago, University of Auckland and the Health Sponsorship Council, to evaluate the effects of the Smoke-free Environments Amendment Act 2003. Associate Health Minister Damien O'Connor said since the introduction of the Smoke-free Environments Amendment Act there had been a "huge change for the better" and a major buy-in from stakeholders and communities over the past two years. "There is very strong support - more than 90 percent - for the right to live and work in a smokefree environment and that continues to grow. "In the same vein, more than 90 percent of kiwis now report that they live in smokefree homes." The study also showed support for a smoking ban in bars had increased - doubling to 74 percent support in 2006 from 38 percent in 2001, Mr O'Connor said. "Self-reported second-hand smoke exposure in all homes has also fallen since 2004. Health Sponsorship Council surveys show self-reported second-hand smoke exposure in all homes fell from 20 percent in 2003 to 9 percent in 2006. Reductions were greater in Māori households." There were also big improvements in the proportion of smokefree homes, even when a smoker lived there, he said. In 2003, 59 percent of Māori households with one or more smokers and one or more children were smokefree, increasing to 74 percent in 2006. This compares to 65 percent of similar non-Māori households in 2003 to 68 percent in 2006. "It's very refreshing to see that 96.5 percent of kiwis believe its no longer okay to smoke around children." Other findings in the research include:
New Zealand Herald, 9 December 2006
SMOKEFREE PREGNANCY FORUM BRIEF REPORT
The second smokefree pregnancy forum was held in Christchurch on 10 November 2006. Called Starting Smokefree, this programme was provided by Education for Change and supported by the Women's Health Managers group. The day brought together midwife educators and smokefree coordinators from every district health board around New Zealand. Participants were prepared to lead a "whole service" approach to smokefree leadership. Key resources provided included: Pregnancy Essentials a Power Point presentation to raise awareness in a blitz-type way across all staff in a service and a smokefree pregnancy care pathway for supporting systematic best practice. The day itself was hugely successful and the action that has followed since indicates that a co-ordinated approach to achieving smokefree pregnancies is underway. Forum resources are available from http://efc.co.nz/forum/viewtopic.php?t=81. TOBACCO IMAGERY ON NEW ZEALAND TELEVISION 2002-2004Following is a summary of an article by Rob McGee and Juanita Ketchel which was recently published in the journal Tobacco Control. It presents findings from a content analysis of 98 hours of prime-time programming on New Zealand television in 2004, compared with earlier content analysis of programming in 2002. Those interested in reading the whole article can request a PDF copy from Rob McGee by e-mailing: rob.mcgee@stonebow.otago.ac.nz. Health professionals are now aware of the role that tobacco imagery in the media might play in promoting smoking. Imagery could 'normalize' smoking among the young and serve as a barrier for quitting among those who are tobacco dependent. A lot of this research has focused on tobacco smoking in the movies, but there has been some analysis of tobacco imagery on television. In New Zealand, research by Debra Singh and Sarah Thomson suggested that in 1994 there were about eight scenes with tobacco imagery in every hour of prime time viewing, and by 1999 this had fallen to about two scenes. At the same time, there was a drop in the number of programmes containing anti-smoking messages from a third in 1994 to one tenth in 1999. Our research involved recording all TV programmes shown on New Zealand's three free to air channels plus C4 from 6.00 pm to 9.30 pm for one week in June 2004. In August 2002, we had previously recorded 73.5 hours of programmes. So we were able to examine changes in the amount and nature of tobacco imagery over a two-year period. Tobacco imagery was identified as 'neutral/positive' where smoking was shown in the context of people having a good time or relaxing, or there was talk of the positive effects of smoking. Imagery was defined as 'critical' where there was an explicit message depicting the negative effects of tobacco - for example, someone shown coughing while smoking, or talk of the health effects of smoking or the positive effects of quitting. Results: One in four of the 2004 programmes had at least one scene containing tobacco imagery (a total of 152 scenes). Tailor-made or roll-your-own cigarettes were depicted most often, followed by cigars and a pipe. Men outnumbered women smoking by nearly 3:1, and most of those shown (82 percent) were estimated to be 30 years or over. Relatively few young adults were shown smoking and only three smokers appeared to be under the age of 20 years. Most smokers were judged to be white and European. The cartoon comedy The Simpsons showed the most characters smoking with an average of five per episode. Most depictions of smoking were 'neutral/positive. Eleven programmes contained 23 scenes with 'critical' or anti-tobacco imagery or conversations. Half of these scenes were in news or current affairs programmes. Tobacco smoking was sometimes satirised. For example, in an episode of The Simpsons a husband refers excitedly to his pregnant wife "smoking for two", implying the baby is smoking when the mother does. In 2004 there were 106 scenes containing tobacco imagery (1.5 per hour) compared with 93 in 2002 (1.3 per hour). In terms of programmes more likely to be watched by young people, there were 2.1 scenes per hour of comedy/drama/movies in 2004, and 1.7 in 2002. In these scenes positive/neutral imagery outnumbered critical imagery by 8:1. Of the 2581 advertisements viewed, seven were ads for the national New Zealand Quit programme, and one was for a commercially available nicotine replacement therapy. Six of the 875 trailers viewed contained uncritical tobacco imagery; none had critical or anti-tobacco imagery. Discussion: A quarter of all programmes had at least one scene with tobacco imagery, mostly neutral or positive in terms of the depiction of tobacco. An implication of this type of depiction is that there are no health consequences from tobacco smoking. By contrast, in scenes depicting illicit drug use over the same week, the imagery was predominantly shown in the context of adverse health and social effects. The amount of imagery on youth-oriented programmes has remained relatively stable since 1999. For adolescents who view perhaps 3-4 hours of television per night, they may see some 40-50 people smoking over a week's viewing. Programmes with more depictions of imagery critical of tobacco (for example, news) are probably not among those watched by young people. Furthermore, the frequent depictions of tailor-made or roll your own cigarettes are consistent with what young New Zealanders report smoking. In many instances imagery relating to cigarette smoking serves as a 'narrative device', so that depicting a character smoking is 'short-hand' for someone under stress or depressed, hard-bitten or otherwise unconventional. Older adolescents seem to be aware that cigarette smoking is written into the storyline for this purpose. So, should health professionals be concerned? Sally Casswell in her writing about the role of alcohol advertising in New Zealand has emphasised its effects on individual consumption and more subtle effects on the social climate around alcohol (Casswell S. Does alcohol advertising have an impact on the public health? Drug Alcohol Rev 1997;14:395-404)). Smoking in the movies is a risk factor for initiation to cigarette smoking among US youth. The tobacco industry clearly believes that social climate and image building are important. We think that the role of television in developing positive attitudes towards smoking among young people deserves a closer look, especially among young children. A final point is that tobacco imagery may help sustain tobacco dependence among adult smokers in the same way that alcohol advertising apparently impedes recovery of those trying to stay sober or cut down on their drinking. BAT IN THE RUNNING FOR 'ROGER AWARD'A bank, a telecommunications company, an electricity provider and a tobacco company are four of the usual suspects to be nominated for this years 'Roger Award'. The seven finalists - given annually for the "Worst Transnational Corporation operating in Aotearoa/New Zealand" - are Telecom, Toll, ANZ, British American Tobacco, Progressive Enterprises, Contact Energy and ABB. The awards are organised by two groups, Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa and GATT Watchdog. Criteria for choosing a winner include a company's record on profiteering and tax dodging, their impact on the environment and their treatment of people. - NZPA PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE 2007Te Torino: Re-imaging health
Public health workers and practitioners from around the country are invited to attend the 2007 conference, to be held in Auckland on 4 to 6 July. This is the only conference held in New Zealand that focuses specifically on public health. Conference themes are urban design, food matters and voices. Topics will include kaupapa Māori, systems and structures, workforce, inequalities, determinants of health, and globalisation. The 2007 conference will have something for everyone - including people who work in strategic management roles, researchers and academics, service providers, advocacy organisations, government and non-government organisations, District Health Boards, public health services, and community workers. Papers are now being called for, and the closing date for abstracts is 31 January 2007. Abstracts can be submitted on the website - www.pha.org.nz. Submitters will be notified by 31 March if their papers are accepted. Further information about the conference will be available on the website in the New Year. In the meantime, put July 4 to 6 in your calendar! TOUGH CURBS ON TOBACCO DISPLAYSThe display of tobacco products will be restricted in all retail outlets in South Australia under tough new regulations announced today. The changes will come into effect in November next year. Substance Abuse Minister Gail Gago said they further demonstrated the State Government's commitment to reduce smoking, which kills 1500 South Australians every year. The tougher regulations would reduce the amount of public displays promoting tobacco products and require sellers to display graphic health warning posters similar to those shown on cigarette packs. "The restrictions will limit the size of tobacco displays to three square metres which must carry an A-3 sized stark image of the effects of smoking adjacent to the packets," Ms Gago said. Alternatively, displays of between one and three square metres must carry an A-4 size graphic warning. "The graphic displays are intended to shock people, particularly young people, into a fear of smoking. "Most tobacco retailers will no longer be able to display cigarette cartons and will be limited to displaying only one packet of each product." Specialist tobacconists will be allowed a small amount of additional display area for their cigar range. Large stores would also be prevented from prominent displays of tobacco products facing public areas, such as malls. Information kits will go out to all retailers and wholesalers in the new year. Adelaide Now, 18 December 2006 CIGARETTES ARE EATING YOU ALIVERotted teeth, twisted lips, a diseased lung: these startling and sickening images are featured in New York City's Health Department's latest anti-smoking television commercial. It's the department's most graphic TV spot to date. "Cigarettes are eating you alive," the announcer says as views of a beating heart and blackened lung flash across the screen. The ad also features creepy close-ups of a deformed mouth. "Hard-hitting ads work," said Sarah Perl, assistant health commissioner for tobacco control. "We want to counter the glamorous images that the tobacco industry is putting out," she said, "and as the new year approaches, we want to motivate people to quit - and to remind them that help is available." The department will spend $1.2 million over the next five weeks to air the ads on local, cable and Spanish-language television stations. According to the Health Department, smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in New York City, estimated at about 10,000 a year. New York Daily News, 13 December 2006 ALLEN CARR DIES FROM LUNG CANCER
His books about the Easyway method have become international bestsellers and he ran clinics all over the world. When he was diagnosed with the disease, Mr Carr said he saw his illness as a way to encourage more people to quit." Since I stopped smoking more than 23 years ago I have been the happiest man in the world. I still feel the same way." Friends said it was possible that the years he spent curing smokers in smoke-filled sessions at his clinics might have contributed to the illness, although it might also be linked to his previous heavy smoking. Mr Carr himself was convinced he would have died many years earlier if he had not stopped smoking. "Given that I am informed that I have cured at least 10 million smokers on a conservative estimation, even if that is the case, it's a price worth paying." He gave up accountancy to set up his first clinic in south-west London in 1983, and has since set up 70 clinics in 30 countries, treating 45,000 people last year. His first book, Allen Carr's Easyway To Stop Smoking, has sold more than seven million copies. Celebrities to have benefited from Mr Carr's methods include Sir Anthony Hopkins and Sir Richard Branson. John Dicey, worldwide director of Allen Carr's Easyway, said: "The fact that a former 100-a-day smoker, having quit in his middle age, lived to the ripe old age of 72 is a tremendous message to all smokers. "Allen Carr's refreshingly different approach to stopping smoking earned him the position as the world's leading expert on helping smokers to quit." BBC News, 29 November 2006 SMOKING CESSATION COURSESThe following smoking cessation courses are available free to all health professionals. They are facilitated by Denise Barlow, or Dr Mark Wallace-Bell, Heart Foundation Smoking Cessation Specialists. Times are 9 am - 4 pm. Pre-course reading and pre-course questionnaire are required for stages 1 and 2. Completion of stages 1 and 2 allows the participant to become a quit card provider. Stage 3 is for those who have previously completed Stages 1 and 2 and have been working in smoking cessation for at least twelve months. Further courses will be scheduled in 2007 - details to come. Please direct all registrations or queries to Jenny Ansley, NHF Cessation Training Coordinator, 03 366 2112, or jennya@nhf.org.nz.
PACIFIC ISLANDS HEARTBEAT SMOKING CESSATION SERVICE
Free Training for Health professionals Cessation Practitioner Training (three-day Training) This training is designed for health professionals and community health workers looking for the knowledge and skill to assist patients in the cessation process. The course provides an understanding of brief intervention skills and principles for providers offer smoking cessation services. These skills and principles are evidence-based, with a strong emphasis on what is culturally relevant and appropriate for Pacific cultures. Workshop content includes: Guidelines: Background Overview; The Pacific Community and their issues; Stages of Change Model; Nicotine addiction; Introduction to Motivational Intervention; Communication Skill and Pacific Culture; Environmental Tobacco Smoking(ETS); Pharmacotherapy; Subsidized Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and Quit Cards Registration; Brief facilitation skills - Principles; Introduction to Relapse Prevention - Brief and intensive; Case studies - Application of Knowledge and skills, NRT Prescription etc; Relevant Strategies and Support for Pacific Smokers. Training dates and venues: Christchurch Dunedin Time: 9:00 am - 4:00pm Morning and afternoon tea will be provided. For more information contact Anthony Leaupepe, Pacific Islands Heartbeat Smoking Cessation Training Facilitator, Central Region and South Island (04 472 2790 | anthonyl@nhf.org.nz). BLAST FROM THE PAST
Text: Blow in her face and she'll follow you anywhere. Hit her with the tangy Tipalet Cherry or rich grapey, Tipalet Burgundy, or luscious Tipalet Blueberry. It's wild! Tipalet, it's new, different, delicious in taste and aroma. A puff in her direction and she'll follow you anywhere. Oh yes, you get smoking satisfaction without inhaling smoke. Smokers of America, do yourself a flavour. Make your next cigarette a Tipalet. Retrieved from: Haha.nu, Lifestyle Blogzine, 5 August 2006
QUOTABLE QUOTES"Cigar Review: Do you think the TV advertisements from Truth.com have hurt or actually helped the tobacco industry? Oliva: Big tobacco and cigars are two totally different industries. Big tobacco is a worldwide industry which produces machine made cigarettes and has admitted to marketing to children as well as using addictive ingredients in their products. The cigar industry is made of mostly families. The tobacco used in fine cigars is grown the same way tomatoes or lettuce is grown. No additives are ever used and for all of these reasons cigars are not addictive. Even the way cigars are enjoyed is different from cigarettes, cigars are not inhaled. One last major difference is that all cigar families are comprised of cigar smoking individuals, I don't know how many big tobacco CEOs smoke their own products. Big tobacco is the reason we are dealing with all these anti-smoking laws and tobacco taxes. To answer your question, I dont believe the Truth campaign is having any real effect." From a Cigar Review interview with Jose Oliva of Oliva Cigars. "To the person who advised me of the 200 poisons contained in one cigarette, I was aware of that, but you have no idea what it's like to be addicted to something, and I hope you never will be." Letter to the Editor, The Star (Dunedin), 30 November 2006 "Researchers linked smoking to cancer in the 1950s. Doctors believed them in the 1960s, but it was not until journalists believed the doctors in the 1970s that the public took notice." Richard Peto, Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, "I was once quoted, accurately, as saying that during the years I spent fighting TB, my enemy was a microbacterial - tuberculosis - but now it's an even lower form of life: tobacco executives! "An executive from Philip Morris actually wrote to me and complained, basically, that this was a form of hate speech, and I had to agree. So I no longer use that expression. Now I just stick to the facts and describe tobacco-company executives as mass murderers." New York City Health Commissioner, Thomas Frieden MEDIA THEMESWhere there's smoke there's poison Cancer Research UK is using TV, radio and print adverts to talk to people about the poisons in cigarette smoke. The adverts can be viewed or listened to at the Cancer Research website. The adverts feature the investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre interviewing people who work with chemicals. The safety precautions necessary for handling these chemicals show how dangerous they are. MacIntyre then reveals that these chemicals are also present in cigarette smoke. The web adverts highlight the fact that ordinary smokers are in fact inhaling dangerous chemicals like hydrogen cyanide and benzene. The print adverts show sinister-looking cigarette smoke and explain more about the chemicals it contains. Court: Jury Didn't Need Smoke Breaks The Ohio Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a death-row inmate who argued that his sentence should be thrown out because the jury was denied smoke breaks. Phillip E. Elmore's attorneys had argued that the judge's refusal to let jurors smoke amid deliberations made the jury antsy and overly eager to finish the case. In a 7-0 opinion, Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton wrote that there was only one smoker on the jury, which took six hours to convict Elmore of aggravated murder and three hours to recommend his execution. "Elmore's claim that this juror suffered nicotine withdrawal is totally speculative. The simple request, 'can we smoke' does not indicate any type of emergency," she wrote. "There is no support in the record for Elmore's claim that the juror who wished to smoke was under any additional stress occasioned by 'mentally wanting, and physically needing to smoke tobacco.'" Elmore, of Newark, was convicted of bludgeoning to death his ex-girlfriend, Pamela Annarino, on her son's wedding day in 2002. New York Times/Associated Press, 13 December 2006
Cartoon reproduced with kind permission of Chris Slane: www.slane.co.nz. |
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If you are considering using any material from the Smokefree Coalition Tobacco Control Update, please first seek permission from Mark Peck - director@sfc.org.nz |
Recently I have come across a marvellous service that the Quit Group offers to those who want to quit smoking. Go to 
The Public Health Association Conference is a 'must attend' for anyone who works in, or has an interest in, public health.
The anti-smoking guru who has helped millions of smokers quit has died from lung cancer. Allen Carr, 72, quit smoking 100 cigarettes a day 23 years ago, before going on to become a millionaire by advising people on how to stop smoking.
Blow in her face (1970s)