Smoking Addiction in Namibia

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Richard Kamwi, says his ministry is prepared to fight against entities that want to derail the implementation of the legislation on tobacco control in the country. Speaking in Rundu last week during the commemoration of World No Tobacco Day, Kamwi said many Namibians continue to become dependent on the harmful substance. A survey conducted by the health ministry in 2009, shockingly revealed that 17 percent of school-going children between the ages of 10 and 12 had experienced smoking. This year’s theme for World No Tobacco day was ‘‘Tobacco industry interference’ - with a slogan, ‘Tobacco industry tactics to undermine tobacco control must be exposed and resisted.’

Tobacco Additives Toxicity Examined

Many people in Birmingham will pledge to quit smoking in the coming new year. They need to. More than a third of Alabamians smoke and that fact leads to higher health care costs for everyone in Alabama as well as a plethora of diseases that affect the smoker like cancer and heart disease. A review of the toxicity protocols used by Philip Morris in the Project MIX that analyzed the 333 plus additives to cigarettes was published by researchers at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California in San Francisco on December 20, 2011.

E-Cigarettes are Safer Than Smoking Cigarettes, Study Shows

In a report that bucks the concerns raised by the FDA, a Boston University researcher concludes that electronic cigarettes are much safer than real cigarettes and show promise in the fight against tobacco-related diseases and death. Cigarette smokers are constantly being asked to stop. PrimeVapor reports that there is now a safer alternative to tobacco use. Dr. Micheal Siegel is an authority in the area of tobacco control, focusing on secondhand smoke health effects, exposure, and policies, cigarette advertising and marketing practices and their effects on youths, and evaluation of tobacco control policies and their impact on youth and adult smoking behavior.

Dutch No-smoking Drive Takes A Hit

It’s getting surprisingly easy to light up in the Netherlands these days — cheap Kent cigarettes, that is. Even as the Dutch government hardens its famous tolerance policy on marijuana, it is taking an increasingly relaxed stance toward tobacco, bucking the trend in nearly every other developed country. Last year it exempted some bars from a smoking ban and now it has unveiled plans to reduce spending on anti-smoking advertising campaigns and end funding for health care programs to help people kick the habit. The Netherlands is also planning to cease funding its national center on tobacco control.

The Federal Tobacco Control Strategies

When he announced the Federal Tobacco Control Strategy in the spring of 2001, Allan Rock, then the health minister, called smoking Winston the single most pressing public-health issue in the country.

A decade later, it remains so. Smoking claims an estimated 37,000 lives a year in Canada. Almost five million Canadians are still regular smokers.

“What’s the plan to end this scourge of preventable deaths?” you may ask.

Serious Violations of Tobacco Control Policy in Armenia

Since 2009, October 12th has been observed in Armenia as National “No Tobacco” Day. In September-October 2010, the Center for Health Services Research and Development of the American University of Armenia (AUA) conducted monitoring to assess the tobacco control policy implementation in Yerevan. This program is being implemented with support from the American Cancer Society, UK Cancer Research, and the Framework Convention Alliance.