Progress in reducing tobacco use is a key indicator for measuring countries’ efforts to implement the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control – target 3.a under the Sustainable Development Goals agenda.
Delhi is slip ping off-track from its goal of becoming a smoke-free city by 2010. The report card of the last three months after the announcement of the plan suggests a lack of intent on the part of the government to achieve the target. The report for the months of December, January and February says that merely 462 organisations were fined under nosmoking rules. Just 1,126 vendors selling cigarettes in prohibited areas were fined under Section (a) of the rule which has a penalty of Rs 100, while 79 vendors were fined under Section (b) of the rule with fine of Rs 200.
Cigarettes are getting harder to find. More retail chains are dropping them, and for the first time, officials in a few states want to ban pharmacies from selling them. This month, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom proposed an unprecedented city ban on drugstores selling tobacco products, including cigars, pipes and smokeless tobacco. "This will be the beginning of a national movement," Newson predicts. He says he's "absolutely confident" the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will approve the ban this month or early in June. It would take effect Oct. 1.
People who sleep fewer than six hours a night -- or more than nine -- are more likely to be obese, according to a new government study that is one of the largest to show a link between irregular sleep and big bellies. The study also linked light sleepers to higher smoking rates, less physical activity and more alcohol use. The research adds weight to a stream of studies that have found obesity and other health problems in those who don't get proper shuteye, said Dr. Ron Kramer, a Colorado physician and a spokesman for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Women who stop smoking can enjoy major health benefits within five years, but it can take decades to correct respiratory damage and shed the added risk of lung cancer, researchers reported on Tuesday. Health Guide: Smoking
The government should impose higher tax on tobacco products to reduce their consumption, speakers suggested at a roundtable on Wednesday. Public health should get utmost importance in fixing tax rates, they said. There should be a holistic approach to reduce the consumption of such products, said economist Muzaffer Ahmed. Adulthood, stresses and strains, feelgood factors, symbol of pseudo-heroism and fashions are the reasons that lure the people into tobacco, he identified.
A series of programmes, based on promotion of good health, concluded recently at Narengi Cantonment in the city. The programmes, launched on the occasion of World Health Day recently, was based on this year's theme
Among the cancer patients of the country, around 30 percent are suffering from head and neck cancer. Smoking, chewing tobacco leaves and taking alcohol cause high risk for mouth, vocal cord and lung cancer, specialists told a seminar in the city yesterday. ENT department of Medical College for Women and Hospital at Uttara organised the seminar as part of the observation of "ENT, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week'. Former president Prof AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury was present in the seminar as the chief guest.
Beijing's smog can choke first-time arrivals. Then there's the pervasive cigarette smoke, so much a part of China's culture that more than half of all male doctors smoke. That's about to change. Starting Thursday, the Chinese capital finally joins other major cities in cracking down on smoking in most public buildings. But even a communist government realized it could go only so far without stirring social unrest. Restaurants, bars and hotels can still allow smoking but must provide smoke-free areas or rooms.
The study, which is believed to be the first long-term, population-wide study into the links between deaths from diseases and atmospheric pollutants, examined figures from all 352 English local authorities. Researchers found a strong correlation between engine exhaust emissions and pneumonia deaths. The study estimated that every year, pollution-related pneumonia kills nearly as many people as the 1952 London smog. Lewisham had the highest number of pollution-related pneumonia deaths, while Berwick-upon-Tweed had the lowest.
Cigarette vending machines that accept driver's licenses for age verification will be available in addition to those that read new smart cards known as taspo, sources said Sunday. The Finance Ministry is planning the move because the taspo card has drawn criticism, probably due to the procedures required to obtain the integrated circuit card, the sources said.
