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FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK
Hello everyone, and welcome to the latest Tobacco Control Update.
This fortnight we are pleased to include a guest editorial by Esther U from
Action on Smoking and Health. She takes issue with some retailers' claims
that removing point of sale displays would be prohibitively complex.
I'd like to thank all those who took part in our Tobacco Control Update
reader survey. We got some pretty useful feedback and we're now compiling results.
We'll report on these
next issue.
However, we are able to announce the winner in the random draw for a $100 Whitcoulls
voucher. Congratulations go to Cancer Society Health Promoter Cheryl Galland, from Canterbury. We'll be in touch soon about your prize!
Have a good fortnight.
Mark Peck
Director
Smokefree Coalition
Guest Editorial
The grounds for refusing to ban the retail display of tobacco have rested on the
assertions that it is too expensive and complex to administer.
I am not convinced.
The fact is retailers already have to ensure their displays comply with a complex set of regulations as set out in the Smoke-free Environments Amendment Act 2003.
Current restrictions for tobacco display at a point of sale include:
- the display of tobacco products at each point of sale is limited to a
maximum of 100 packages and 40 cartons; however there is an exemption for cigars
and 'specialist tobacconists'
- a limit of two packages of the same kind (no block displays)
- packaging and sale of tobacco products with other products at a single price or a reduced price is prohibited
- tobacco products may not be made available free of charge or with some kind of inducement or 'reward', or at a reduced rate other than a normal trade discount
- tobacco products may not be displayed on a counter top or similar surface, whether at point of sale or not
- tobacco products may not be displayed within one metre of children's
products
- a 'Smoking kills' sign must be displayed in clear view of the customer at the point of sale if tobacco products are displayed within two metres of a point of sale.
Given that this is a complex list of requirements, a complete display ban
would actually be easier to administer, not more difficult.
There are different interpretations for each restriction and ways to manoeuvre around the intention behind each
one. The limit of two packages of the same kind, for example, can be overcome simply by slightly varying the colours or name on the tobacco packet. The overarching brand then has words like 'premier', 'distinct', 'refined' and 'superior' – and each new 'product line' can then be treated as a separate item.
For the restriction on displaying a maximum of 100 packets of cigarettes, an often employed tactic is
to use more than one cash register, as the current restriction allows for 100 tobacco products displayed at any point of sale (regardless of whether the extra till is in regular use).
Other regulations, such what constitute children's products, could be open to interpretation.
An ASH observational survey conducted last year assessed the level of compliance with the current restrictions in 78 retail stores around schools in
the Auckland region, in both high and low socio-economic areas. It found
- 37.3 percent of all retail stores surveyed displayed tobacco products within
one metre of children's products
- 65 percent of dairies were observed to have tobacco products in close proximity to children's products.
The ASH survey highlights the complexity in interpreting the current restrictions. Simply ridding shops of displays would be straightforward in contrast to the current myriad of regulations.
Esther U
Campaign Officer
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
IN THIS ISSUE:
- New Zealand on Stage at the WCTOH
- Lords vote to ban shop tobacco displays and restrict vending machine use
- Facing the Facts
- Protect Our Children: Questions And Answers – 6 May 2009
- Balloon Day Virtual Street Appeal
- Health Promotion Forum Symposium
- Oceania Tobacco Control Conference 2009 – Call for abstracts
- Health Sponsorship Council Research positions
- Through the smoke
- Smokefree shorts
- Quotable quotes
New Zealand on Stage at the WCTOH
This is the final in a three-part series from Carleine Receveur, Project Manager for the
totally smokefree Hawke's Bay District Health Board, on her experiences and knowledge gained from attending the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) in Mumbai.
 New Zealand is recognised as a world-leading country in terms of its tobacco control initiatives, although we all know that there is a long and challenging road to our ultimate goal of a tobacco free Aotearoa.
If tobacco control is a jigsaw, as suggested in the
last article, then New Zealand is holding a number of those pieces and some of these were on show at the WCTOH in Mumbai.
Sixteen people represented New Zealand, delivering a mix of oral and poster presentations. These people added new information to the body of research, reported on national campaigns, shared their innovations and experiences and even challenged some existing thinking and action.
It is an impossible task to provide a summary of all the work that was delivered from the New Zealand contingent without writing a book! Instead
I will present a list of those attendees with the corresponding title of their presentation/s. Hopefully this will
help you appreciate just how much New Zealand had to offer at the WCTOH.
You can access more information, including
abstracts, at the conference website:
www.14wctoh.org.
Now check out these Kiwis' topics...
 Shane Kawenata Bradbrook
Indigenous peoples: Altria apology to Māori people (a world first)
People's voices in the Land of the Long White Cloud: Indigenous efforts to move tobacco control
Richard Edwards
At the frontier of smokefree policies: a review of public attitudes
to smokefree parks, beaches and sports grounds
Setting a good example? Changes in smoking prevalence among key
occupational groups in New Zealand. Evidence from the 1981, 1996 and
2006 Census
Most smokers support having fire safe cigarettes: National Survey
data from New Zealand
Karen Evison
Programmes to target youth smoking and initiation and their effect
in New Zealand
How a national tobacco control health target focuses locally
driven action
Trish Fraser
Smokefree healthcare translating international experience
into Asia
Marewa Glover
Smoking is rank! But, not as rank as other drugs and bullying, say
New Zealand parents of pre-adolescent children
 Carleine Receveur
Systems First – a framework of smokefree action for health care services
Hiria Minnell Harmony
Mobilising Māori leadership for tobacco free communities
Judy Li
Do smokers exhibit avoidance behaviours to new graphic health
warnings? An observational study
Smokers quit in a reality type television campaign
Evaluating a new media campaign to support the release of graphic warnings on tobacco packets: the New Zealand experience
Text health warnings: does anyone pay any attention to them?
Andy Graham
Inventing the wheel: towards an integrated hub and spoke model for
stop smoking interventions
Matthew Allen
What makes for effective overseas development assistance programmes
in tobacco control?
Sunder Lokhande
Gutka and chewing tobacco usage by the South East Asian community in
New Zealand
 Grace Wong
Developing nurses for a smokefree Aotearoa/New Zealand: results of a needs assessment and national survey of nurses' smoking history, knowledge and attitudes
Smoking prevalence, practices and beliefs among Asian preadolescents and their parents in New Zealand
George Thomson
Attitudes to and policy debates on smokefree cars in Europe, North
America and Australasia
Robust systems needed for dealing with light and mild deception
Key policy results from the New Zealand arm of the ITC project
survey of smokers
Janine Paynter
Tobacco power walls, do they increase smoking among children? An
investigation from New Zealand
Alistair Woodward
Smokefree policies – an international assessment of the effects on
exposure to second-hand smoke and health outcomes
Ben Youdan
Forced abstinence and free nicotine
Lords vote to ban shop tobacco displays and restrict vending machine use
The House of Lords in the UK has voted to ban displays of cigarettes and other tobacco products following a lively debate on the Health Bill.
Among the issues discussed by Peers were a Conservative amendment to remove the key clause on putting tobacco out of sight, a crossbench proposal to completely ban tobacco vending machines and an amendment giving ministers the power to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products.
The amendment to the tobacco display proposal was defeated by a margin of almost 2:1, meaning that the proposal will pass on intact to the Commons.
Opponents argued that a display ban would harm corner shops, but the amendment was voted down by 204 to 110.
However, the amendment to outlaw cigarette vending machines was unexpectedly voted down by Peers, meaning that the original proposal – to fit vending machines with age-restriction mechanisms – will stand.
Baroness Thornton told the House: "We are satisfied that there are benefits to removing displays: it will remove the promotion of smoking to children and support those people who want to quit. We are convinced that removal is the right and responsible decision.
"Removing tobacco displays is another important step towards a tobacco-free world, one where children are protected and people who want to quit are supported to do so."
Suggested amendments on plain packaging and the tobacco industry's interference in policymaking were debated but not put to a vote.
Richard Davidson, Cancer Research UK's Director of Policy and Public Affairs, welcomed the outcome of the Lords' vote on shop displays of tobacco.
"Protecting children and young people from tobacco marketing is key to helping stop another generation becoming addicted to a product that kills half of all long-term users," he said.
"We now urge the House of Commons to show the same commitment to health that the Lords have."
However, Mr Davidson noted, "We are disappointed that the Lords voted against getting rid of vending machines – prohibition is the only guaranteed way to prevent underage children from using them."
Media release, Cancer Research UK, 8 May 2009
Facing the Facts
 The next Face the Facts messages will hit the airwaves this Sunday. Two 15-second television commercials, supported by radio, magazine, outdoor and web advertising, will carry the messages:
- Nicotine replacement therapy is safe and doubles your chances of quitting.
- Kids who have a parent who smokes are three times more likely to become smokers.
Face the Facts, an education initiative developed by HSC in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, presents six stark facts about smoking.
HSC's Manager Smokefree, Marija Vidovich, is encouraging smokefree workers throughout the country to promote the messages from 17 May, in the lead up to World Smokefree Day and beyond.
She says media releases for local use – one for each message – were sent out to World Smokefree Day co-ordinators with the World Smokefree Day media packs. Anyone who didn't get a copy, check with your local co-ordinator or contact Marija on 04 472 5777 or
marija@hsc.org.nz.
For more information on Face the Facts, see
www.facethefacts.org.nz.
Protect Our Children: Questions And Answers – 6 May 2009
Excerpt from: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0905/S00116.htm.
Hon Phil Goff: Does the Prime Minister stand by his statement on Sunrise regarding removing point of sale advertising on tobacco products: "Now, like all things in life, um, we're not saying no. We're quite prepared to have a look at that, quite prepared for it to evolve over time, but, at this stage, it's one of those things where there's no free lunch here.", and can he explain to the House what on earth he meant by that?
Hon John Key: I absolutely stand by that. I know that the Leader of the Opposition cannot make up his mind about the super-city, but I am quite clear in my mind about point of sale advertising. As the Government said, we have seen some research at this point but not enough to convince us that we should get rid of point of sale tobacco advertising, because it would be tremendously expensive to do so and quite hard to administer. But, like all good-thinking
governments, over time we will consider the issue.
Hon Phil Goff: When does the Prime Minister think that the Government will find the courage to take a stand on this issue, given that the Ministry of Health has estimated 5000 people a year die from smoking – 13 a day – and when he has been personally given evidence showing that kids exposed to such advertising are three times as likely to take up smoking?
Hon John Key: The Government agrees with the Leader of the Opposition if the point he is making is that smoking damages the health of New Zealanders. I saw a report from the Minister of Health just a few days ago indicating that that is an issue of concern to him, and that he is looking at ways to try to ensure that fewer New Zealanders take up smoking.
Balloon Day Virtual Street Appeal
 It's Asthma Awareness Week and Kiwi kids with asthma need your
help. About one in four Kiwi kids has asthma and the illness is the leading reason for our children and young people being hospitalised in Aotearoa.
Our Balloon Day Virtual Street Appeal raises funds for crucial child asthma research. We're not holding a physical street appeal this year.
Please visit www.asthmafoundation.org.nz to make an online donation or call 0900 4 ASTHMA (0900 4 278 462) to make an automatic $20 donation.
Every donation, big or small, will help make a tremendous difference to the estimated 200,000 children with asthma.
Recent child asthma research includes the role of the immune system in childhood asthma, breastfeeding and early childhood nutrition in the development of asthma, and oxygen therapy to treat acute asthma.
This positive and life-changing work requires continued funding and we ask you to spare a moment for the Kiwi kids who can't even enjoy the simple act of blowing up a balloon. They need your help to breathe easier.
Please help us spread the word by forwarding this message to all your contacts.
Thank you for your support. We really appreciate it.
Jane Patterson
Executive Director
The Asthma and Respiratory Foundation
HEALTH PROMOTION FORUM SYMPOSIUM
Coming up on July 15 and 16 is the Health Promotion Forum's symposium "Hauora: everyone's right 2009".
To be held at the Brentwood Hotel in Kilbirnie, Wellington, the symposium will feature Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman, leading researcher into how housing improvements affect health, and Professor Mason Durie, world-renowned for his work to improve the health of Māori and other indigenous peoples.
Four workshops will be held during the symposium on: global warming; global inequalities; global colonisation and global recession.
To register or for more information contact Kerehi Marsh, Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand, P O Box 99 064, Newmarket, Auckland 1149, phone (09) 520 3971; fax (09) 520 4152 or email
kerehi@hauora.co.nz.
Oceania Tobacco Control Conference 2009
– Call for abstracts
The Oceania Tobacco Control Conference 2009 is now open for abstract submissions.
Abstracts can be submitted in any area of tobacco control.
For abstract submissions criteria, programme information and early bird registration
please visit www.oceaniaTC2009.org.
Applications close Friday 19 June.
Early bird registrations close Friday 24 July.
Health Sponsorship Council Research positions
The Health Sponsorship Council (HSC) is seeking to recruit two new researchers to the research team.
HSC is responsible for encouraging and enabling New Zealanders to make healthy lifestyle choices through programmes that achieve positive social and behaviour change.
Two position opportunities are available with HSC's Research and Evaluation Unit to provide individual expertise and play a key part in supporting the development, implementation and assessment of tobacco control, sun safety, problem gambling and obesity prevention programmes.
Senior Researcher – health and wellbeing focus
- Health promotion research and evaluation
- Investigate, inform and influence!
The Senior Researcher will contribute to the complete cycle of research and evaluation: design; procurement to outsource research; maintaining relationships with research providers to monitor contracts; and the dissemination programme. The Senior Researcher, along with the Manager and other seniors, will have the opportunity to develop and lead the work programme and mentor the
three researchers in the team.
Applications close 22 May
Ref # 1512.
Senior Data Analyst – health and wellbeing focus
- Health promotion research and evaluation
- Turn data into information to contribute to a healthier New Zealand!
- Provide statistical expertise in an applied research environment.
The Senior Data Analyst also will assist researchers at The Quit Group with analysis of their substantial datasets. The Quit Group provides innovative quit smoking programmes for New Zealanders, as well as evidence-based tobacco control facts and figures.
Applications close 27 May
Ref # 1549.
To find out more about these positions and how to apply, please contact Leigh Johnson on 04 915 1479 or
info@thejohnsongroup.co.nz.
THROUGH THE SMOKE
Thanks, tobacco: You killed my mom
 Be warned, this video makes for pretty harrowing viewing, to the extent that we thought long and hard about whether we'd include it in the Update. In the end we decided we would. It is one man's loving tribute to his mother, done with endearment.
It's a stark reminder, too, that tobacco companies "aren't playing tiddleywinks" when they
make the products that lead to
the awful deaths of very real people such as Charlotte Gray.
--
Aaron Gray remembers being 8, and crawling underneath a bingo table by his mother's feet so he could escape the heavy fog of cigarette smoke hovering in the room above him.
He remembers driving to school during cold Canadian winters, the windows closed and the smoke from her cigarettes clouding up the car like gas in an execution chamber.
An aspiring filmmaker, Gray captured his mother's illness, and ultimately her death from lung cancer, in this 10-minute documentary.
He hopes the details of her death act as a warning.
"I know the cigarettes killed her," Gray said in a letter on YouTube, where he posted his film.
"I hope this video helps at least one family avoid this catastrophe. It would have meant my mom's existence helped save lives."
It has done something. The film has been viewed more than 300,000 times on YouTube and has been picked up by numerous anti-smoking organisations, including Americans for Non-smokers' Rights and the American Lung Association, which uses it for training.
It also has been shown in some American schools and has become
mandatory viewing in health classes at Redondo Union High School.
The Daily
Breeze, 5 May 2009
Watch the video at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_8BerrJg0M.
SMOKEFREE SHORTS
 Where
possible, links are provided below the stories. Please click these to read the story in full.
New Zealand
Hospital under a smoke cloud
 Taranaki Base Hospital is setting a poor example in allowing people to smoke in the main entrance, says Taranaki DHB
Chairman John Young.
He urged a faster move to implement a fully smokefree hospital and surrounds as he had seen firsthand at the new Wellington Hospital last weekend.
"Certainly walking in the front door and not tripping over the butts was quite an experience," he said.
Taranaki Daily News, 4 May 2009
Smokefree messages blown off city's parks
A move to make all of Hamilton's parks smokefree was quickly stubbed out, but not before Hamilton City Councillors ignited a fiery debate yesterday.
The smokefree suggestion was presented to the community and environment committee after a request by the Cancer Society, but was criticised as "nonsense" and "nanny state" behaviour by some elected members.
Waikato Times, 2 May 2009
Signs up to make parks smokefree
The Horowhenua District Council has jumped on the Auahi Kore bandwagon in an attempt to stop children lighting up. Smokefree signs with messages, such as "Hey, big people, we copy what we see, so keep our playground smokefree", will be put up at 120 parks and sports grounds in the district.
But the ban won't be policed and offenders won't be punished. It's an initiative, not a council bylaw that would attract fines.
Manawatu Standard, 6 May 2009
International
Study shows cigarettes more hazardous than ever
 An American anti-tobacco campaigner claims to have found a link between US-made cigarettes and his country's higher than average death rate from lung cancer.
A new study suggests that the risk of getting lung cancer from smoking has increased over time due to changes in cigarette design.
According to David Burns and Christy Anderson of the University of California, up to one half of current lung cancer occurrence could be attributable to cigarette design.
TV3 News, 1 May 2009
Quitline iPhone app helps smokers stop smoking
Smokers can turn to their iPhones to help them quit smoking with evidence-based treatment through a free app downloadable from iPhone or iTunes. The app links users to the National Cancer Institute's quitline service where they speak to a live quitline coach or use live text to get advice on quitting.
Medical News Today, 29 April 2009
Strong evidence supporting plain packaging for all tobacco products on the eve of Lords vote
A new UK study has found that of 516 adults and 807 children aged 11-17, more than half reported that cigarettes branded with the word "smooth" made them assume the cigarettes were less harmful.
Children and adults also believed that packs in lighter colours – grey vs dark red, for example – would be less harmful and easier to quit.
ASH (UK) media release, 29 April 2009
Most teens who try to quit smoking fail
Despite not smoking for very long, many US adolescents who smoke and try to quit are unsuccessful, federal health officials said.
The Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said that interventions that prevent initiation and increase quitting should be fully implemented to lower the prevalence of smoking among youth.
United Press International, 30 April 2009
Adults important in reducing young people's tobacco use
 A clear commitment from adults against the use of tobacco is expected by their children as they grow up, and it can prevent teenagers from starting to smoke or use snuff. This is shown in current research from Umea University in Sweden.
In 1993 a programme called Tobacco-Free Duo was started in collaboration between the Country Council of Vasterbotten County and the schools in the county's municipalities. The target group was young people between 13 and 15 years of age, and the programme is still going on. A central component of the programme was to include adults in the task of supporting adolescents in saying no to tobacco.
Science Daily, 5 May 2009
Young people want tobacco put out of sight in shops
Young people overwhelmingly support putting tobacco products out of sight in shops according to new research released by Cancer Research UK.
Almost two thirds (64 percent) of 11- to 16-year-olds want cigarettes put out of sight in shops. Only 16 percent do not agree with the proposal. Researchers interviewed more than 1400 youngsters from across the UK.
Medical News Today, 4 May 2009
Online counselling to be mandatory for under-aged smokers
More people were smoking in Singapore in 2007, compared to 2004.
The National Health Surveillance Survey 2007 showed that 13.6 percent of Singapore residents aged 18 to 69 smoked daily, compared to 12.6 percent in 2004.
The survey also found that about one in four males smoked daily, compared with one in 27 females. The males were lighting up 13 cigarettes a day on average, compared to nine cigarettes for females.
Yahoo News Singapore, 29 April 2009
Higher-dose nicotine patches more effective for highly-dependent smokers
Abstinence rates increase among highly dependent smokers when they are given a higher-dose nicotine patch, according to findings presented at the 2009 Joint Conference of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) and SRNT-Europe.
Docguide.com, 1 May 2009
Survey shock over use of cigarette machines by UK children
 Children as young as 11 can easily buy cigarettes from vending machines throughout the
UK's North-East, tests have revealed.
Underage youngsters were able to buy cigarettes in 58 out of 99 cases in a survey carried out by
trading standards officers.
Children aged between 11 and 16 went into bars, amusement arcades, bowling alleys and other outlets across the region. On most occasions, the children were able to buy cigarettes from machines unchallenged by staff.
The Northern Echo, 30 April 2009
'Free nicotine' to keep smokers in gaming rooms
Nicotine patches and lollipops have been used as inducements to help smokers play the poker machines longer, the South Australian Council of Social Service (SACOSS) says.
SACOSS made the claim in its submission to the Productivity Commission's public inquiry into gambling, which will report to the Federal Government in November.
The submission states the gimmicks have been used by venues to "entice gaming customers to continue to play" to help tackle the smoking ban which came into effect in November 2007.
Adelaide Now, 6 May 2009
Women more vulnerable to tobacco carcinogens, new results show
Women may be more vulnerable than men to the cancer-causing effects of smoking tobacco, according to new results reported to the European Multidisciplinary Conference in Thoracic Oncology (EMCTO), Lugano, Switzerland.
Swiss researchers studied 683 lung cancer patients who were referred to a cancer centre in St Gallen between 2000 and 2005 and found women tended to be younger when they developed the cancer, despite having smoked on average significantly less than men.
EurekAlert, 3 May 2009
China cigarette order goes up in smoke
A county government in central China has rescinded an order which was intended to make officials smoke more to help the local economy, local authorities say.
Functionaries in Gongan county in rural Hubei province had been ordered to smoke at least 23,000 packs of cigarettes a year, worth nearly 4 million yuan ($586,700), to cushion government finances, according to regional media reports.
Reuters, 5 May 2009
Portraying tobacco industry in a negative light an effective smoking deterrent
Running advertising campaigns directed at young adults that attack the reputation of the tobacco industry have been found to be effective in reducing the incidence of smoking in the age group, a US study has found.
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco found that adverts targeting the tobacco industry rather than those that outline the health hazards of smoking proved to be more effective in the 18 to 25 age group – the highest smoking group in the United States.
The Tech Herald, 7 May 2009
QUOTABLE QUOTES
"The international community is puzzled why New Zealand has not banned tobacco displays and closed regressive tax loopholes on roll-your-own tobacco products. Tobacco use is now much higher in New Zealand than in nations such as Canada, which have undertaken these actions.
"Surely the wonderful citizens of New Zealand also deserve the most progressive tobacco control policies in the world?"
Dr Paul McDonald, Waterloo University, Canada
Letters to the editor, Dominion Post, 6 May 2009
"I do feel quite proud of myself. I honestly do believe I have extended my lifetime. By how much, I don't know."
Peter Harford, who gave up smoking a year ago to win a bet with friend, Craig Foresman, who would run down a main street naked if Peter could go a month without a cigarette.
Bay of Plenty Times, 4 May 2009
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