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| Issue 144 | 12 May 2010 |
Having trouble viewing this newsletter? Try the online version. From the Director
The over-arching theme for the conference is Kotahitanga – linking arms across all sectors. Abstracts around best practice, policy and/or research on the mobilisation of communities toward the Vision, the innovation of cessation provision, or the growing of leadership and commitment will be welcomed. You can expect more news and the official invitation to come in future Tobacco Control Updates. This Friday is the hearing date for Christchurch submissions to the Māori Affairs Select Committee inquiry. The timetable is packed with mostly organisational submitters, including the Paediatric Society of New Zealand, Smokechange, the Cancer Society Social and Behavioural Research Unit and Change for our Children. I expect the Select Committee will be especially interested to hear about the Hornby community project from Smokefree Canterbury, as well as the iwi submissions of Ngai Tahu and Makaawhio. The last submitter of the day will be Imperial Tobacco. Someone should remind the tobacco industry the inquiry is about them, not illicit trade. Congratulations to Te Runanga o Kahungungu for exerting such tino rangatiratanga in implementing tobacco-free policy throughout its iwi. That's one more example of the sort of governance we hope and expect from our elected Parliament. Let's hope it is also perceived as a challenge to all other iwi across Aotearoa. I've asked Te Reo Marama's Shane Bradbrook to say more on the matter in a guest editorial. There's just one more week to write your submission on the tobacco retail display ban proposal, or enlist your local smokefree retailer to write one. The deadline is Friday 21 May. If you need help with this, do not hesitate to get in touch with either myself or the folk at ASH. There is plenty of new research and international evidence to show this legislation is vital, but the more anecdotal experience from retailers themselves, the more relevant for our government. Then – get ready – World Smokefree Day is coming (31 May) and price increases mean it's going to be a massive quit date for New Zealanders. What's more, it is Youth Week prior, and parents everywhere will be making the connection that they can become smokefree, not just for the benefit of not just themselves, but also for the aspirations and development of their children. Good luck to all our hard-working cessation providers: you're going to need it! But smokers need it more! Take care, Prudence Stone, Director, IN THIS ISSUE:
Guest editorial: Iwi takes on tobacco
"This is the first iwi to take on tobacco use amongst its people by adopting a comprehensive strategy to rid tobacco from their lives. The iwi should be commended for its leadership in taking on the biggest preventable killer of Kahungunu peoples and Māori," said Shane Bradbrook, Director of Te Reo Marama. The Strategy blends tobacco control approaches, such as using cessation services, with traditional cultural lore (tikanga) so as to remove not only tobacco use, but also the carrying of tobacco onto sites such as marae and wahi tapu (sacred sites). "Ultimately what this Strategy will do is send a message to Māori that a product that addicts and kills over 600 Māori each year is no longer welcome. The challenge has been taken up by Kahungunu, and in doing so I hope other iwi also determine that tobacco has to be removed from their respective iwi boundaries," Mr Bradbrook said. "It is a pleasing that the iwi has taken such a bold step in the fight against the tobacco industry and its deadly product. I would particularly like to acknowledge the work undertaken by Gevana Dean and also the Hawke's Bay District Health Board for funding the Strategy." Read more at the New Zealand Herald, 11 May 2010 Phone conference for Māori Affairs Select Committee submittersFor all those speaking to the Māori Affairs Select Committee in Christchurch on Friday we are holding a phone conference prior to the hearing to help you know what to expect. You are welcome to dial in to take part, Thursday 13 May, 10am sharp Advice on what to expect from the committee, the tone of debates, key arguments/rebuttals and media advice will be covered. The call should take no longer than 15-20 minutes of your time. If you are presenting at another time, we will be holding similar conference calls prior to each hearing. Please call Smokefree Coalition Director Prudence Stone (04 472 0157) for instructions about how to dial in. The teleconference has been organised by ASH, Te Reo Marama and the Smokefree Coalition. Great first step – now let's protect our children
"We are delighted," said Dr Jan Pearson, Health Promotion Manager. "We see the next step as a ban on tobacco displays, something we have been advocating for a long time, that will work towards preventing young people from taking up smoking. The tobacco industry relies on young people to start smoking as their customers die off at the rate of 5000 a year, and it is not older people who take up smoking. "As far as we are concerned the power walls of tobacco products one can see in shops and service stations are nothing short of advertising and should be illegal. Research tells us that tobacco displays normalise the smoking habit for young people." The Cancer Society is looking forward to the outcome of the Ministry of Health's call for submissions on options for removing tobacco products from public display in retail outlets as it believes this could be the forerunner of another Government initiative to really reduce smoking uptake in younger people. "Let's protect our children." Cancer Society of New Zealand media release, 29 April 2010 It's just not worth it!by Chris Tremain MP
There are 17 of us in this family now here in Napier. My dad missed my brother's 21st. He missed my wedding, and my two brothers' weddings. He missed the birth of his first grandson. He missed the birth of his first grand-daughter. And he missed the birth of eight further grandchildren. He missed his grandson's first rugby game and his grand-daughter's first netball game. He's missed seeing my brothers grow up to be fine men and he's never known their two amazing wives. My dad has missed one hell of a lot. This week I was proud to be involved in passing legislation to increase the excise tax on tobacco to reduce smoking, to dissuade young people from starting to smoke, and to improve the health of New Zealanders. Smoking is a leading cause of preventable death in New Zealand. If you're a smoker and you don't want to miss out on what my dad has missed out on stop. And stop it now. I can tell you it's just not worth it. NationalMPs.com, 3 May 2010 Submitters' impressions about the inquiry
We asked members who presented orally to the Māori Affairs Select Committee to tell us their impressions in just three or four sentences each. In this issue we feature responses from Kerri Nuku and Leanne Manson from the New Zealand Nurses Organisation who answered our questions together.
1. In a word or one sentence: how did it go? Really well! 2. How did the Select Committee respond? Were there any tough questions? Yes, there were a few hard questions, particularly from Paul Quinn, about whether Māori health professionals who were smokers should be employed in health professions. 3. Based on these first few days of hearings, do you think the Select Committee is heading in the right direction? This is a hard question to gauge given that we presented in Wellington after the other hearings. It would seem from the questions some of the Select Committee asked that they may not understand the subject or its effects at all. 4. What was missed? Not sure, perhaps a wrap up of key points or a summary to leave with the Select Committee. Recent researchClick the links below each piece for more information. Electronic cigarettes: a survey of usersLittle is known about users of electronic cigarettes or their opinions, satisfaction or how and why they use such products. This study internet-surveyed of 81 ever-users of e-cigarettes in 2009. Participants answered open-ended questions on use of and opinions about e-cigarettes. http://7thspace.com/headlines/343361/electronic_cigarettes_a_survey_of_users.html Health consequences of smoking 1-4 cigarettes per dayThe purpose of this study was to determine the risk in men and women smoking 1-4 cigarettes per day of dying from specified smoking related diseases and from any cause. http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/14/5/315.abstract?etoc The social context of smoking: a qualitative study comparing smokers of high versus low socioeconomic positionGroups such as the World Health Organization emphasise the importance of exploring potential causal factors for smoking such as socio-economic context and position. There has been little effort to compare the social context of smoking for smokers of high versus lower socio-economic position to consider how tobacco control efforts might reduce smoking-related health inequality. www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/211 Adolescents' perceptions of tobacco control measuresUnderstanding youth perceptions of measures that either encourage or discourage youth smoking is critical to help inform and consolidate tobacco control policy. Twelve focus groups, comprising adolescent smokers (N = 32) and nonsmokers (N = 35) aged 11 to 16 years were conducted in Glasgow and Lothian, Scotland. Each focus group explored factors adolescents encounter in everyday life that they perceive to facilitate or impede smoking, and about smoke-free legislation, smoking in domestic situations, access to cigarettes, and health warnings. http://hpp.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/1524839910369222.. A content analysis of smoking fetish videos on YouTubeThis study examined the prevalence, accessibility, and characteristics of eroticised smoking portrayal, also referred to as smoking fetish, on YouTube. The analysis of 200 smoking fetish videos revealed they are prevalent and accessible to adolescents on the website. They featured explicit smoking behaviour by sexy, young, and healthy females, with the content corresponding to PG-13 and R movie ratings. www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a919822726 Effect of motivational interviewing on smoking cessation in pregnant womenCigarette smoking during pregnancy is an important public health problem. Smoking cessation programmes provide women with an opportunity to learn how to protect their own health and that of their developing babies. This paper is a report of an evaluation of the effects of a motivational interviewing smoking cessation programme on smoking rates of pregnant women. www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123339262/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 Tobacco and tobacco branding in films most popular in the UK 1989-2008Tobacco promotion is now tightly restricted in the UK and many other countries, but tobacco imagery including brand appearances in the media remain potentially powerful drivers of smoking uptake among children and young people. The extent to which tobacco imagery and specific products have appeared in the most popular films viewed in the UK over 20 years has been measured, in relation to year of release, the age certification allocated to the film by the British Board of Film Classification, country of origin and other characteristics. http://thorax.bmj.com/content/current#Smoking Trends in US movie tobacco portrayal since 1950: an historical analysisPortrayal of tobacco use in films has been causally linked to youth smoking initiation. However, findings regarding trends in portrayal in US films since 1950 are inconsistent, potentially due to differences in sampling densities, intercoder reliabilities and time periods covered. The present study was designed to overcome these inconsistencies with a common sampling frame and methodology. http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2010/04/14/tc.2009.034736.abstract British American Tobacco on Facebook: undermining article 13 of the FCTCThe World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control bans all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. The comprehensiveness of this ban has yet to be tested by online social networking media such as Facebook. In this paper, the activities of employees of the transnational tobacco company, British American Tobacco, (BAT) on Facebook and the type of content associated with two globally popular BAT brands (Dunhill and Lucky Strike) are mapped. http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2010/04/14/tc.2009.032847.abstract Have you got a moment to complete a survey for NZAAHD?
The NZAAHD is looking for individuals to assist with the first stage of the project by completing a brief survey. The purpose of this brief survey is to gather information about support for rangatahi Māori health and development. This survey will inform stage one of NZAAHD's Rangatahi Māori Health and Development strategy by identifying:
Click here to go to the survey. The Annual Wellington Post-Budget BreakfastCo-hosted by the Public Health Association and Child Poverty Action Group Friday 21 May 2010 7:15am-8.45 am Join us for breakfast and hear how local commentators score the 2010 Budget. Chairperson: Mike Coleman from Every Child Counts. Speakers:
Cost: $15.00 for PHA members and unwaged workers, $20.00 otherwise. Please pay by cash or cheque only on the day. Receipts will be available. Register by email to postbudget@paradise.net.nz. Book now and secure your seat to this event. Registrations are required for catering purposes. SMOKEFREE SHORTS
New ZealandKids caught in sting To add underage selling insult to injury, the sting also picked up a 13-year-old selling cigarettes over the counter of his parents' dairy. Five retailers in Napier and Hastings were caught selling tobacco to a minor in the controlled purchasing operation carried out by the Hawke's Bay District Health Board. Hawke's Bay Today, 4 May 2010 Retailers deny tobacco industry backing Media commentators are questioning the motives and backing of a new lobby group for the country's small retailers – suggesting it is backed by big tobacco companies and their PR companies. Otago Daily Times, 4 May 2010 Motivation, tax and smoking Today I was going to begin a series on motivation – and I kind of am. I want to talk about the recently-announced tobacco tax increases in Australia and New Zealand, what they mean for motivation to stop smoking, and how that relates to motivation to change in general. Blog: Living skilfully, 4 May 2010 Editorial: Tough love should work for smokers Attacking smoking with tax, they would protest, hurts those who can least afford it, some of them with young families who stood to suffer for the higher cost of a parent's addiction. But probably nobody in Parliament knows those people better than Mrs Turia, Māori Party co-leader and Associate Minister of Health. New Zealand Herald, 1 May 2010 Quitline flat-out after price hike Quitline fielded record numbers of calls yesterday from people considering dropping their smoking habits after increases in tobacco excise tax were rushed through Parliament. Quit Group Chief Executive Paula Snowden said 610 calls were taken by Quitline advisors on a day in 2008 when a hard-hitting advertising campaign was launched, but many more than that had called following the tax hikes. TVNZ, 30 April 2010 Pharmacists welcome tobacco tax The Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand has welcomed the government's decision to increase the tax on tobacco and wants to see community pharmacists better used in the fight against smoking-related harm. Voxy, 30 April 2010 Look who's sneaking behind the shed for an illicit smoke The Auckland University study looked at the smoking habits of more than 2000 school and early childhood teachers from all over New Zealand. It found some teachers were prepared to break smokefree laws for their daily fix, but that only a small proportion of teachers now smoke. New Zealand Herald, 6 May 2010 Editorial: Principles ahead of politics The Māori Party's lightning raid on smokers last week has to be applauded as a gutsy move. For the Māori Party, the driving force behind the rise, the blitzkrieg ran the risk of angering its supporters and seriously eroding its support. Timaru Herald, 4 May 2010 Smoking's not a right – and it's not a pleasure However you dress it up, and however much you argue that the price rise will only punish the poor, it's a slow form of suicide, impacting directly on people who breathe the poisonous smoke, and families who lose people they love. I used to smoke, and quit out of sheer anger that the habit had such a hold on me. I was a chain smoker by then, all too aware that if I kept it up it would kill me. The Dominion Post (Rosemary McLeod), 6 May 2010 Smokers, grow your own Brook Miller, 23, began several auctions selling bags containing around 3000 of the dust-like seeds on Wednesday, hoping to capture the attention of smokers stung by the Government's latest tax hike on tobacco. Mr Miller does not smoke himself – he gave up a few months ago because of the smell and the "anti social" aspect of it, rather than the cost – but is happy to sell the thousands of seeds he bought on Trade Me a few years ago. Marlborough Express, 7 May 2010 Tobacco giant in IRD tax probe The Inland Revenue Department is investigating transactions by the New Zealand arm of global tobacco giant British American Tobacco as it pushes home the advantage created by its win over tax avoidance by foreign-owned New Zealand banks. New Zealand Herald, 6 May 2010 Researchers want school smoking ban extended University of Auckland researchers say smoking should be banned from the entrances to schools and early childhood centres. They've called for teacher training to include ways of discouraging children from taking up smoking. Radio New Zealand News, 6 May 2010 InternationalKids don't realise they're getting hooked Published in the latest issue of Pediatrics by Chyke Doubeni, MD, MPH of the University of Massachusetts, the study found that among kids who have started smoking, "an urge to smoke or being irritable because they are not able to smoke is a sign of early dependence. But they don't seem to recognise that symptoms such as irritability are harbingers of addiction. The Medical News, 4 May 2010 Bulgaria does U-turn on planned smoking ban The Bulgarian parliament voted against plans Wednesday for a complete ban on smoking in cafes, bars and restaurants, arguing that it would endanger the crisis-hit sector. France 24, 28 April 2010 Smoking is clearly a dying habit If it had been just about any other commodity, a 25 percent increase in tax with virtually no warning for consumers would have caused a real stink. But it says much of the now virtual pariah status of the tobacco industry in Australia that the announcement by the Federal Government last week to raise taxes on cigarettes was largely copped on the chin. The West Australian, 4 May 2010 Australia says legal position 'strong' on cigarettes Australia's legal position on mandating plain packaging for cigarettes is "strong," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said as tobacco companies consider action to block the move. Business Week, 29 April 2010 Canada asked to consider no-logo cigarette packs like those in Australia The move by the Australian government, aimed at reducing the number of smokers and smoking-related deaths, is scheduled to take effect in January 2012. Cynthia Callard of Physicians for a Smokefree Canada says the move by Australia will hopefully blaze the trail for other countries, including Canada, to consider similar action. "It took a decade to get standard advertising out of the way. This is kind of like the last billboard." National Post (Canada), 30 April 2010 Nigeria: 'Emulate Australia in banning tobacco promotion' The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has called on the federal government to emulate Australia's move to ban the promotion of tobacco. In a statement issued in Lagos, ERA/FoEN Programme Manager Akinbode Oluwafemi said, "The Australian government's move complements global efforts to curb the gale of deaths spurred by the deceptive promotional packs of the tobacco industry. It is highly commendable and timely in nipping the renewed efforts to woo underage persons into smoking through beautiful packs, colours and logos." AllAfrica.com, 6 May 2010 Will you even be allowed to smoke in your own home? Smoking could be banned in apartment blocks, city streets and university campuses as the public health lobby steps up its fight for a smokefree Australia. Under plans being looked at by Quit and the Cancer Council, some smokers would be banned from lighting up in their own homes. Compulsory clean-air policies in apartment blocks are increasingly common in the United States, where at least 36 local authorities have banned smoking in public housing blocks. The Age, 9 May 2010 African-American infants at increased risk from tobacco smoke exposure Low levels of prenatal tobacco smoke exposure are associated with a higher risk of developmental problems for African American children than white children, according to new research from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Red Orbit, 4 May 2010 Exposure to prenatal smoking may lead to psychiatric problems It is well-known that maternal smoking during pregnancy can have long-term effects on the physical health of the child, including increased risk for respiratory disease, ear infections and asthma. New research shows that prenatal smoking also can lead to psychiatric problems and increase the need for psychotropic medications in childhood and young adulthood. Physorg, 4 May 2010 QUOTABLE QUOTES"I decided if I continue smoking I might as well shoot my brains out with a pistol." Munich born Wellington resident Nick Luger, whose grandfather invented the German army's
Luger pistol, likens smoking to playing Russian roulette. "
"Smoking is regarded as a habit that is not just unhealthy but occupies the same moral territory as machine-gunning kittens." Linley Boniface, "The 'u' word puts paid to some of life's pleasures",
"What this talk about "individual choice" and "freedom" doesn't take into account is that nicotine has a direct effect on the human brain's motivational pathways. It's one of the most addictive of all drugs – only methamphetamines addict a higher proportion of first-time users, and the failure rate for quitting without help is 95 percent. " Mike Reeves-McMillan, Blog post: "Motivation, Tax and Smoking", 4 May 2010
"Yes, it was hard to give up – everything they say about that is true – but a lot of things are difficult. That doesn't make them impossible. I stopped one day, and the final straw, to be honest, was a government price rise." Rosemary McLeod, "Smoking's not a right – and it's not a pleasure",
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If you are considering using any material from the Tobacco Control
Update, |
In the coming weeks invitations will be sent out for submissions to the
Tobacco-free Aotearoa Conference 2010: Achieving the Vision Together. The location and dates have been finalised: Auckland 4 and 5 November. If you are interested in making a presentation at this conference please pencil in these dates and don't worry; you haven't missed any deadlines.
Te Reo Marama has welcomed the adoption of the Ngati Kahungunu Tobacco Use Strategy by the third largest iwi at the recent Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Incorporation Board meeting.
The
Government's announcement of a substantial increase in the tax on tobacco products is the first
step towards a smokefree Aotearoa by 2020, says the Cancer Society.
My dad, Kelvin Tremain, died at just 54. He would be 72 today. He was a smoker... a heavy smoker. And cancer was the cause of my dad's death.
New Zealand Aotearoa Adolescent Health and Development is conducting a project researching existing programmes and services aimed at rangatahi Māori health and development. This will include scoping people who work with rangatahi Māori and identifying the key factors impacting on rangatahi Māori health and development in Aotearoa with the aim of developing a strategy to best support that work.
Where
possible, links to full articles are provided below each story.
An underage cigarette selling sting staged
recently in Hawke's Bay saw a 14-year-old seller hand over tobacco to a 14-year-old buyer – outraging health authorities.
If anyone but Tariana Turia had pushed through Parliament a punishing increase in the price of cigarettes there would have been an outcry from people who call themselves compassionate.
Teachers are imitating pupils by sneaking out during breaks, hiding in sheds and breaching smokefree rules to get a nicotine fix, a study has found.
Forget roll-your-own, a Spring Creek man is hoping the thousands of tobacco seeds he is selling on auction website Trade Me will encourage cash-strapped Marlborough smokers to grow their own.
Kids who have just started smoking, but not on a daily basis, don't seem to recognise the early symptoms of dependence, according to a new study.
Canadian health groups are calling on their own country to follow suit after Australia announced it will force tobacco companies to use plain packaging with no logos or colours on its products.