Tobacco.org

Shaquille O’Neal has a hookah habit  

Shaquille O'Neal has taken his hookah-loving ways to the islands. The former NBA star was spotted yesterday at Bamboo Bernies on St. Maarten, puffing away, having relocated from the Viceroy Hotel on Anguilla, where he hosted a New Year's Eve blowout. In November, the big man was spotted heading into New York's Babylon Hookah Lounge three nights in a row

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NCDs account for most deaths in Jamaica in '08 — WHO report  

AN estimated 68 per cent of deaths that occurred in Jamaica in 2008 were attributable to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which results primarily from cardiovascular diseases, tobacco use, physical inactivity and unhealthy diets.

The statistics are contained in the first Global Status Report on Non-Communicable Diseases, compiled by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and show cardiovascular diseases accounting for 32 per cent of the deaths in the island, while 21 per cent of all deaths were due to communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions. . . .

As it relates to behaviour risk factors, the WHO global status report on non-communicable diseases showed that 17 per cent males and eight per cent females smoked tobacco . . .

"Addressing NCDs is critical for global public health, but it will also be good for the economy; for the environment; for the global public good in the broadest sense. If we come together to tackle NCDs, we can do more than heal individuals -- we can safeguard our very future," he said.

NCDs accounted for an estimated 84 per cent of the deaths in Cuba, 82 per cent in Barbados, 78 per cent in Trinidad & Tobago, 66 per cent in Guyana and 41 per cent in Haiti in 2008.

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Arrgh! Photos Reveal 'Pirates of the Caribbean': Smoked Like Chimneys 

Credit: Photo courtesy Daniel FinamoreAbout

36 percent of all the artifacts at the Barcadares are made up of tobacco pipes (shown here), indicating that the pirates were heavy smokers.

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CARICOM Ministers in Russia for health talks  

Two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministers of Health have travelled here to participate in three major global health events on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), as the region steps up its preparation for the UN High Level Meeting on Chronic Disease prevention later this year.

Dr Leslie Ramsammy of Guyana and Donville Innis of Barbados and regional officials are among the 100 Health Ministers and other government representatives who have gathered at the World Trade Centre in Moscow to participate in the staging of the first World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Forum titled 'Addressing the challenge of Non-Communicable Diseases'.

They attended Wednesday's launch of the first WHO Global Status Report on NCDs, as well as the staging of the first two-day Global Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non-Communicable Disease Control, which opened yesterday morning. . . .

A CARICOM statement said that those recommendations are in sync with the regional body's advocacy against NCDs and are implicit in the 15-point actions of the Port-of-Spain Declaration - Uniting to Stop Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases - to which CARICOM Heads of Government had committed since September 15, 2007 and which is now being implemented in the Caribbean.

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DEYAL: Going up in smoke 

In February this year, British American Tobacco (BAT), the second-largest tobacco company in the world, and the leading tobacco company by revenue in Europe, reported an increase in profits mainly on sales growth, encouraged by growing sales in developing markets. One of the profit-earning measures was a price increase. In the Caribbean, the West Indies Tobacco Company (WITCO) experienced a three per cent increase in profits. According to a media report, WITCO recorded a turnover of $942.5 million, a growth of six per cent over 2009, which was as a result of an improved sales performance.

The question is: Why in these hard times, people who don't have money to burn continue to burn money? BAT itself provided the answer three years ago in 2008 when the company posted a 14 per cent rise in profits. The Telegraph quoted BAT Chairman Jan du Plessis as saying, "We haven't really felt the impact of economic developments on our business thus far. We're in a kind of business where we know that people would much rather cut down on other areas of discretionary spend before they decide to either down-trade or cut down on their overall daily cigarette consumption." . . .

While the evidence shows plainly that knowing about the dangers of smoking does not really stop chronic smokers from continuing to spend their money on a habit that will eventually kill them, it is important to make the personal statement and commitment, as I did many years ago: "I will not smoke for the next minute." Eventually, the minute turned into an hour and then a day and now 35 years. I don't want any of my daughters or sons to smoke, but while Big Tobacco continues to have more money to spend on advertising than those who oppose them, I think the best message for the rest of us is that it is time to get off our butts.

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• Zimbabwe Joins Other Nations to Fight Proposed WHO Tobacco Rules  

Zimbabwe has teamed up with 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries to oppose a proposed World Health Organization agreement that would ban certain ingredients in tobacco that renders the product more appealing to youths in particular.

Reports said the 79 nations are resisting the ban which is being tabled at a meeting in Uruguay and is seen a threat to the tobacco industries of many countries.

The World Health Organization through a treaty called the Framework on the Convention for Tobacco Control, seeks the prohibition of certain tobacco flavoring ingredients. . . .

But the African, Caribbean and Pacific or ACP nations are opposing a ban on blending tobacco with those ingredients. They say the ban will devastate their economies.

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CHEN: Smoking ban in Jamaica will save lives  

MORE Jamaicans die from heart disease than from any other cause and smoking is one of the leading risk factors for this disease. We at the Heart Foundation of Jamaica and the Caribbean Tobacco Control Project would like to applaud the Jamaica Observer for hosting a "Monday Exchange" highlighting the devastating impact of cardiovascular disease on our society and for identifying tobacco use as the killer that is contributing to the death of thousands of our countrymen every year. . . .

The World Health Organisation recognises the tobacco industry's strategies and brings to the attention of our government and citizens every year through "World No Tobacco Day", the public health impact on populations like Jamaica's. Jamaica's signature on the WHO's global tobacco health treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, is an important achievement for public health.

We applaud Caricom governments and the Jamaican government, in particular, for taking the steps to protect the health of Jamaicans. Trinidad and Tobago has already implemented full legislation to safeguard its people, Barbados has just announced its own public smoking ban and we look forward to Jamaica's progressive adoption of its own measures to protect the health of the nation.

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• Call to control tobacco by law  

Cardiovascular specialists from throughout the Caribbean gathered at the Ritz-Carlton, Montego Bay, from July 21 to 24 for the 25th Annual Caribbean Cardiology Conference.

Subsequent to a presentation entitled Cessation Of Smoking by Dr Knox Hagley, chairman of the Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control, the Caribbean Cardiac Society (CCS) reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding public health from the harmful effects of smoking.

The CCS issued an appeal for regional governments to enact comprehensive tobacco control legislation to safeguard the health and development of CARICOM nationals. . . .

The CCS commends regional governments that have signed and ratified the FCTC and applauds Trinidad and Tobago for being the first Caribbean state to enact tobacco control legislation.

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Health Minister hosts International, Regional and Local Tobacco Control Organizations 

Senator the Honourable Jerry Narace Minister of Health hosted several representatives of international, regional and local tobacco control organizations at the Ministry of Health’s Head Office on March 03, 2010. Those present at the meeting included Ms Lorraine Fry, General Manager of the Non-Smoker’s Rights Association of Canada, Ms Barbara McGah, Project Manager of the Caribbean Tobacco Control Project, and representatives of the Trinidad and Tobago Cancer Society. The meeting was held to facilitate an exchange of learnings regarding tobacco control, including the achievements made by Trinidad and Tobago in implementing tobacco control legislation. The information shared at the meeting will provide guidance on the way forward to all the parties involved.

Ms. Lorraine Fry took the opportunity to congratulate Minister Narace and the citizens of Trinidad & Tobago on the proclamation of parts of the Tobacco Control Act on February 17, 2010

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• Smoking ban in enclosed public places starts Wed 

FROM Ash Wednesday, smokers will no longer be allowed to light up in any enclosed public place. The Ministry of Health yesterday issued a release, announcing that the Tobacco Control Act, passed back in December 2009, will be proclaimed by President George Maxwell Richards and enforced in phases from Wednesday onwards. . . .

At the opening of special meeting of the Council for Social and Human Development (a body made up of Caribbean Health Ministers) last week at the Hyatt, Port of Spain, Health Minister Jerry Narace said he made a commitment to undertake a public education initiative before enforcing all of the clauses of the Act and to work on the specific regulations to support the Act.

'The Ministry of Health will now intensify its public education campaign regarding the Tobacco Control Act, the upcoming proclamation, and the health effects of tobacco use and second hand smoke in general. We shall also be launching a Tobacco Cessation Campaign

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Guyana to share US$627,000 for Caribbean Tobacco Control Project  

Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago will be benefiting from approximately US$627,000 for the Caribbean Tobacco Control Project.

The Project is aimed at controlling and raising warning awareness of the effects of tobacco use in and around the Caribbean.

This information was revealed by the Guyana Caribbean Tobacco Control Project Officer and member of Guyana Chest Society, Eshwar Raghunath, at a Media Sensitisation Workshop on Tobacco Control.

The Workshop was intended to “arm the media with information as a vehicle aimed at exerting pressure on policy makers to implement stringent tobacco control interventions as implied by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.”

The Caribbean Tobacco Control Project is funded by the Bloomberg Global Initiative

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• Barbados to host meeting on tobacco surveillance and policy development  

Over 50 delegates from across the region are expected to converge in Barbados for the Caribbean Sub-regional Meeting on Tobacco Surveillance and Policy Development, slated for November 16 to 20.

The meeting, a collaborative effort among the Pan-American Health Organisation - Office of Caribbean Program Coordination and the Tobacco Control Team Washington DC; the Office of Smoking and Health - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention USA; and Barbados' Health Ministry, will look at the implementation of Articles 5.3 and 13 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Article 5.3 of the FCTC addresses "Protection of Policies from Commercial and Other Vested Interests of the Tobacco Industry", while Article 13 examines "Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship".

The forum will also assess the use of tobacco surveillance data for the development of effective and evidence-based tobacco control policies.

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Banning of smoking in public spaces endorsed 

A recommendation for the banning of smoking on public spaces as a public good and regional goal has been endorsed by Caricom Ministers of Health.

This as the region intensifies its efforts to tackle Non-Communicable Diseases, under the Port of Spain Declaration on Uniting in the fight against NCDs.

The endorsement was given at a meeting of the Caucus of Ministers of Health, in Geneva Switzerland last month.

The Health Ministers also re-affirmed their commitment to the goals and time lines embodied in the Framework Convention

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• MULLER: Right to light up  

Nazma muller talks to managing director of West Indian Tobacco Company Jean-Pierre du Coudray, a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, Canada, who feels that legislation for tobacco use should also protect smokers, and producers.

Q: Do you smoke?

A: Yes, but it's not because I work here. I've been smoking since I was 22. It's my choice. I was smoking for nine years, before I started working here. It's certainly not a prerequisite for working at Witco. In fact, less than 20 per cent of our employees smoke. In 2006, we discontinued a policy where every employee who smoked used to get, depending on their grade, anything between four to eight cartons of cigarettes a month. This is in line with our responsible approach-if you're an adult and you want to smoke, you have to go out there and buy your cigarettes like everybody else. . . .

Compared to the US and the UK, cigarettes are very cheap in T&T. How does Witco do it?

I wouldn't say they're cheap. They're average. In Guyana and Suriname, they're cheaper than here. What happened is we closed our factories in Jamaica, Guyana and Suriname, and that capacity was transferred to Witco. We brought in high-tech machines from Germany, so now we're much more efficient in terms of economies of scale.

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EDITORIAL: All-out war being waged on tobacco 

AT ALMOST the same time Barbadians were hearing that a project officer, Wayne Hunte, had been appointed through a grant from the Bloomberg Global Initiative in partnership with four non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to keep an eye on package warnings on tobacco products sold in CARICOM countries, the world was being told of an even . . .

It will be the job of Hunte to ensure tobacco products, particularly in Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, carry the appropriate warnings about tobacco being dangerous to health.

Four NGOs - the Heart Foundation of Jamaica, the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados, the Trinidad & Tobago Cancer Society and the Guyana Chest Society - are all partners in the Bloomberg-funded two-year project.

Hunte summed up his task as eventually getting the governments in targeted countries to speak with one voice about putting warnings on tobacco products.

It will be interesting to see if and how the Bloomberg-Gates anti-smoking campaign will reach us and how effective it might be.

A first step in this direction is to ban smoking in public places and calls have been growing for this throughout the world.

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