 |
| Issue 93 | 25 June 2008 |
Having trouble viewing this newsletter? Try the online version. FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK
Also, many of you will be in Wellington this week for the National Tobacco Control Hui. The hui programme reinforces current thinking about encouraging smokers to make quit attempts and for services to be available to assist their efforts. In that vein the recently announced Txt2Quit service becomes another tool in the campaign to encourage and assist smokers who want to stop. Some time ago I lauded the 'Quitter Blog' as a useful tool. This latest idea further demonstrates the inventiveness of the sector in providing new ways to help people stop smoking. So with all this going on and the good news that smoking prevalence is declining, I get a little nonplussed when those who should know better set a bad example. We have had two cases in the last little while. First there was the All Black whose smoking set off the fire alarm at the Intercontinental Hotel in Wellington. Despite the All Black management not wanting to comment on the matter, I would have thought that within the team there would be an understanding that, apart from the health issues associated with smoking, members of the team are role models. Despite the disappointment of the Rugby World Cup there are still many young people in New Zealand who aspire to become All Blacks and hold these players in awe. What sort of message does this send to a smoking curious young person? All Blacks do it so it must be cool? Time for a rethink here, fellows. Then there is dear old Winston. As MPs go he is actually one of the more interesting to go to dinner with. But once again he's made comments invoking the "nanny state" catchall to disparage the efforts of people concerned about reducing the death and disease burden from smoking. Winston prides himself on siding with the underdog and rooting out the trickery and corruption of the elite and powerful (wine-box springs to mind). Yet he doesn't get it that the lies of the tobacco industry have enslaved hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders to an addiction that will kill half of them. In any other sense he would be outraged and leading the posse to bring the crooks to justice. Again the example set is a little unfortunate. Example is important to the smoking curious. Kids observe the behaviours of their elders and often emulate that behaviour. If a parent smokes it is more likely that children within the family will smoke. If someone's 'hero' smokes, this will also affect their behaviour if they are smoking curious. Cessation is one side of the coin in tobacco control. Initiation is the other. From where I sit it is clear to me that role models play an important part in efforts to reduce smoking from both aspects. Enough of the pontificating. Maybe there will be a better example set next time. Have a good fortnight. Mark Peck Director IN THIS ISSUE:
TEXTING SUPPORT FOR YOUNG SMOKERS WANTING TO QUIT
Developed by The Quit Group with funding from the Ministry of Health Txt2Quit builds on research carried out by Auckland University showing quit rates among young smokers can be almost doubled using texting and text prompts. "More than a quarter of 15-19 year olds smoke but research shows that most young people want to quit," says The Quit Group's Executive Director, Helen Glasgow. "We also know that most young people own a mobile phone and that a smart texting service will have a positive impact on their choice to quit." Almost two years in planning and development, Txt2Quit is a 26 week fully automated free support service run through both The Quit Group's website and Quitline contact centre. Participants can 'opt in' or 'opt out' at any time but while in the programme receive supportive texts and prompts to help them through their quitting journey. "For example if I'm on the programme and have tried to quit and have a cigarette I can text 'slip-up' to the service and receive tips, advice and supportive texts in response which let me know that many people do slip-up but I should keep on trying to quit," says Helen Glasgow. Participants can also text 'crave' if they feel the need for a smoke or 'relapse' if they find themselves returning to old smoking habits. "The service has been extensively tested and linked to our website to keep it fully automated but participants can also call the Quitline to register. "We've also tested the text messages with Māori and Pacific Island youth to ensure they work even though they are in English text format," says Helen Glasgow. You can register for the Txt2Quit service by going to www.txt2quit.org.nz. How Txt2Quit will workTxt2Quit is made up of a number of stages.
ALARMING STATISTICS – OPINION PIECE FROM NATIONAL MP CHRIS TREMAIN
It's frightening to read the statistics right here in Hawke's Bay. Our community has the dubious distinction of being substantially above the New Zealand national average for smoking. This is across all genders, age groups and ethnicities. At the end of the day people need to make their own choices about the actions they take, however they must be under no illusions that habitual smoking is something that clearly has a negative impact on their personal health and their families. It's definitely had an impact on my own family. I watched my father, a smoker for much of his life, die of cancer at just 54 and it still hurts me when I think about all the things he has missed out on. I am passionate about promoting a smokefree lifestyle, not only for those I know personally, but for our wider community. Smoking results in more than 4,700 deaths in New Zealand every year, and leads to many more avoidable hospital admissions. While I don't want to sound holier than thou, it is something we need to be focusing on as a community. Our young people are continuing to take up smoking in record numbers, particularly young Māori women, so for one reason or another, the message is not getting through. On this note, it's great to see Hawke's Bay councils taking the lead by declaring our parks, playgrounds and sports grounds smokefree zones. Children mirror behaviour they see, and this initiative promotes non-smoking outdoor spaces for them. None of us is immortal. We will all die at some stage. What is wrong though is when preventable cancers, caused by smoking, kill middle aged adults well before they should, before they have been able to enjoy the fruits of their hard labour and the smiles of their grandchildren. Let's get behind reducing the prevalence of smoking in our community and get our statistics heading in the right direction. "From the House", Napier Mail, 4 June 2008 KEEPING THE QUESTION ABOUT SMOKING IN THE CENSUSThe consultation period for the 2011 Census is now open. Statistics New Zealand is asking for comments to help it assess and prioritise the changes it proposes to census content for 2011. One of the proposed changes is the removal of the question about smoking behaviour. This question should not be removed as it provides important information such as how effective tobacco control efforts have been, which sectors of society continue to smoke and how much. Make your submission online at www.stats.govt.nz/census2011 or call 0508 525 525 and ask to be sent a consultation guide. Submissions close 5pm Monday 14 July. INVITATION TO SIGN AN OPEN LETTER TO THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE
The letter includes the following requests to the IOC:
You are encouraged to read the letter at the link above and add your support by signing up to it online. There is also opportunity to add further comments of your own. ASH WANTS YOUR FEEDBACK ON ITS WEBSITE
ASH has put together a short survey for people to complete. It won't take long and may lead to improvements that you'd want to see. Please click on link below. http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=984146 NEW ZEALAND'S FIRST POST GRADUATE COURSE IN TOBACCO CONTROLThe School of Population Health and the Auckland Tobacco Control Research Centre is offering the first postgraduate level course in tobacco control in New Zealand and there are only three weeks left to enrol. The new course introduces students to theory and research developed within public health and epidemiological contexts that are related to tobacco control. Students will review major theoretical issues and will consider current trends and future challenges to Tobacco Control. Topics covered will relate to three main themes:
The overall aims of the course are to
Guest lecturers include Dr Marewa Glover, Dr Murray Laugeson, Dr Vili Nosa, Haikiu Baiabe, Shane Kawenata Bradbrook and Dr Judith McCool. The course will be taught over four block days, 6 and 27 August, 1 and 22 October. More information is available at the School of Population Health website. Enrolments close 11 July. JOB OPPORTUNITY: SMOKE FREE CO-ORDINATOR, CENTRAL REGIONHutt Valley Regional Public Health is looking for a motivated individual with excellent communication skills to support and encourage collaboration between providers of smokefree/auahi kore health promotion services in the Central Region. Based in the Hutt Valley, the successful applicant will facilitate the flow of information between national agencies and smokefree providers from the seven district health boards within the Central Region. If you have strong communication skills and the desire to help reduce tobacco related harm, this may be your next career move. You will have experience and knowledge in relevant fields such as tobacco control, health promotion, facilitation, education or community development. Regulatory experience would be advantageous but is not essential. You will need the flexibility to travel outside the Wellington region when required and you must be a non smoker. This position is a permanent full-time role (Reference 2336). For further information contact Kristen Foley 04 570 9022. Applications close 4 July. CESSATION PRACTITIONER TRAINING
This training is designed for nurses and community health workers to enhance their knowledge and skills in providing brief advice and cessation support to patients/smokers. The course has a strong emphasis on what is culturally relevant and appropriate for Pacific people. Participants and providers who complete the training can get registered with the Quit Group as Quit Cards providers and access subsidised Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) for clients who smoke and want to quit. To be held: 30 July - 1 August, Kenepuru Hospital Education Centre, Seminar Room 2 Each workshop runs 9am-4pm. Morning and afternoon tea is provided. For more information contact Anthony Leaupepe, Training Facilitator, 04 472 2780 ext 2, or e-mail: anthonyl@nhf.org.nz. THROUGH THE SMOKEThe Joys of Smoking
Check out the galleries here. SMOKEFREE SHORTS
MilestonesLook who has had a birthday recently! Michelle Lee and Janine Paynter. New ZealandResearch supports tobacco display ban Tobacco wall displays in convenience stores and other retailers should be banned because New Zealand and international evidence shows they are an unhealthy influence on children and people trying to quit smoking, according to latest research from the University of Otago, Wellington. University of Otago media release, 19 June 2008 Court rules smoking room is part of workplace The doors are set to close on a Hawke's Bay meat processing plant's smoko room, after a ruling it constitutes a workplace and is therefore in breach of anti-smoking legislation. The Court of Appeal has dismissed Progressive Meats' argument that the smoking room at its Hastings plant was not covered by the legislation. Yahoo News, 10 June 2008 Sentiment, smokers out in the cold
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the meat-processing company's argument that provision of a special room (so that a third of the 275-strong workforce did not have to change in and out of protective gear each time they wanted to light up) did not fall within the definition of a 'workplace' covered by the Smoke-Free Environments Act 1990. Editorial, Hawkes Bay Today, 12 June 2008 All Black's alarming puff An All Black's furtive puff on a cigarette is believed to have triggered a fire alarm that forced the evacuation of the five-star Intercontinental Hotel in Wellington where the team stayed before its match against Ireland. The Dominion Post, 12 June 2008 Adults buying cigarettes for minors Timaru adults continue to fuel youth smoking by buying cigarettes and handing them to youngsters outside shops. A number of local dairy owners told Aoraki MP Jo Goodhew they are concerned they can do little about adults buying cigarettes for minors. Timaru Herald, 13 June 2008 Calls for outdoor smoke ban Smokers are already banned from lighting up in pubs and restaurants – now there are moves afoot to stop them doing it outside too. Wellington City Council is facing calls to ban smoking outside eating places. The ban could extend to gardens, parks and council-sponsored events such as the Cuba St Carnival. The Dominion Post, 11 June 2008 ICC to put out smoking in playgrounds The Invercargill City Council intends to stub out smoking in children's playgrounds by putting up no-smoking signs. In response to submissions to the annual plan, councillors resolved at an extraordinary council meeting to have smokefree signs installed in all children's playgrounds. The Southland Times, 18 June 2008 InternationalSmoking on rise again in Ireland
Smokefree lobbyists ASH Ireland have called for a 50 cent increase in the cost of cigarettes, the removal of all smoking advertising from shops and huge investment in educating young people on the risks of tobacco. ASH Ireland's Professor Luke Clancy said he was concerned the study showed 56 percent of women, aged 18-29, and from the two lowest socio-economic brackets, were smoking. Irish World, 17 June 2008 Obama admits smoking cigarettes in last few months Senator Barack Obama told reporters in St Louis on 10 June that he has fallen off the wagon and smoked cigarettes in the last few months. The presumptive Democratic nominee has been open about his smoking past. Once a heavy smoker, he publicly gave up at his wife's request, to run for president. Since quitting, Obama has indicated in the past that he has "fallen off the wagon" but was not specific about how recent his smoking was. "Months," Obama said of the last time he has smoked. ABC News (US), 10 June 2008 Price hike, ads help smokers quit Australia could have almost 100,000 fewer smokers if the price of a cigarette was raised by just two cents, an Australian study has found. A new assessment published in the American Journal of Public Health has found that raising cigarette prices and exposing people to anti-smoking advertisements are the most effective tactics to get addicts to stub out. The Australian, 13 June 2008 Don't keep it in the family, says British anti-smoking ad
The ad is filmed from a child's perspective to the soundtrack of Shirley Temple's On Account'a I Love You. Parents are depicted trying to protect their children by hiding their smoking habits, but these attempts are unsuccessful and the ad ends with a child standing in front of the mirror pretending to smoke, using a crayon as a cigarette. The Guardian, 13 June 2008 Call to license tobacco selling A group of councillors in Cumbria (UK) want tobacco sales to be licensed so tougher penalties could be imposed on traders who flout sales restrictions. Members of the county council's health and wellbeing committee are also calling for nicotine replacements to be more widely sold alongside cigarettes. BBC News, 14 June 2008 Outdoor smoking affects children indoors Parents who smoke outside their house are still exposing their children to the harmful effects of passive smoking, an Australian study suggests. The study found that the levels of respirable suspended particles, including nicotine, were significantly higher in houses where smokers lived than in smokefree homes – even if they only smoked outside. The findings appear in the latest issue of Indoor Air. ABC, 16 June 2008 Anti-smoking zealots should butt out
According to the spokesman for the Australian Medical Association, Dr Doug Travis, extinguishing government funding to films, plays and other arts projects that normalises and glamorises smoking will curb a dirty habit that leads to death and disease. Unfortunately, if this proposal was incorporated in the soon-to-be-released Victorian Government Tobacco Control Strategy earlier, films such as The Home Song Stories and Noise, the TV series Underbelly and the 2005 Melbourne Theatre Company production End of the Rainbow may not have got off the ground. The Age, 16 June 2008 Smoking bans and the Bible Pulaski County is the latest Kentucky place to consider going smokefree. Last week, the fiscal court in Somerset received a petition from 36 local physicians supporting a smokefree law, reports The Commonwealth Journal. The county commissioners also heard from an opponent who said smoking bans are un-American and that the Bible is mum on the subject of tobacco use, which he takes as approval. Lexington Herald-Leader (US), 18 June 2008 US employers ponder tough tactics to halt smoking Howard Weyers tried the 'carrot' approach by giving his employees incentives and encouragement to quit smoking. But when that didn't work, he resorted to the 'stick'. A big stick. Weyers, owner of a health care benefits administrator in Lansing, Michigan, gave his 200 employees an ultimatum in 2004: Quit smoking in 15 months or lose your job. He refused to hire smokers. Ultimately, he extended his smoking ban to employees' spouses and monitored compliance through mandatory random blood testing. San Francisco Chronicle, 17 June 2008 Why fire smokers? Public Interest Law Professor John Banzhaf, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) UK, plans to discuss a new medical study which shows that the breath of smokers creates unhealthy levels of indoor air pollution, even if they do all their smoking outdoors. PR Inside, 18 June 2008 Egypt's new tools in war on smoking: Stark warnings on impotence, disease
Starting 1 August 2008 cigarette labels in Egypt will be required to carry images of the effects of smoking: a dying man in an oxygen mask, a coughing child, and a limp cigarette symbolizing impotence. Yahoo News, 16 June 2008 QUOTABLE QUOTES"If you ask these bureaucratic, officious little boogers that are behind all this [smoking bans] why they're doing this, they'll tell you it is your health. But the fact is Spain, Portugal, Israel, Japan, France and Italy all have much higher smoking rates per capita than America, and much longer life expectancy. All we can conclude is that speaking English is killing us." American novelist and songwriter Kinky Friedman "The images on the cigarette packets and what smoking does to your toes and mouth are awful. I don't know how people can still smoke when they see the effects." Wanganui Girls College student Layken Karena-Koro, 14 "The pictures of the effects (of smoking) are really scary and disturbing." Wanganui Girls College student Holly Benton, 14 "One of the comments I heard was that 'the Government should spend the money on more needy things instead of those [graphic warnings].' My reply was, 'Like the health sector fixing up all the smoking-related diseases?'" Janet Macmenigall, "Attitude of smokers over warnings beggars belief" |
| Subscription info |
|
The Tobacco Control
Update is produced by the Smokefree Coalition If you are
considering using any material from the Tobacco
Control Update, |
By now you should all have received the
Aotearoa/New Zealand Tupeka Kore/Tobacco Free 2008 – 2009 Directory. If
not please 
In a world first a nationwide, free, interactive texting service aimed at getting young people to quit smoking was launched in Wellington
on 17 June.
It was World Smokefree Day on 31 May, a good time to ponder our smoking statistics and to see if we can take some actions to reduce its prevalence, especially amongst our young people.
An open letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been loaded
on the recently established Smokefree Olympics website at: 
The team at Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is looking at making improvements to its website and wants the feedback of those working in or interested in tobacco control.
Free training for health professionals – Cessation Practitioner Training (three modules over three days)
In
1986 Bonnie Vierthaler founded of The BADvertising Institute to offer an
engaging technique for comparing the truth with tobacco company motives and
messages. 
Where
possible, links are provided below the stories. Please click these to read the
story in full.
Anti-smoking groups will take grim satisfaction from the ruling that went against the plans by Hastings company Progressive Meats for a smoking room. 
The number of smokers reportedly fell from 33 percent in 1998 to 27 per cent in 2002, but jumped alarmingly to 29 per cent last year, according to a survey published by Ireland's Department of Health.
The National Health Service has launched the second phase of its £8m (NZ$20.7m) anti-smoking campaign on TV with an ad that plays on parental guilt about lighting up in front of the children, using the tagline "Smoking. Don't keep it in the family".
The campaign to erase smokers from view is an unhealthy obsession.
Offering a cigarette is as common as a handshake in Egypt, where the culture of smoking is so entrenched that patients and friends sometimes light up in hospital rooms. But now, the government is finally getting serious about the health risks, launching a new campaign of stark visual warnings about tobacco's dangers.