Tobacco.org

• The relationship between regular second-hand smoke exposure at home and indictors of lung function in healthy school boys in Khartoum  

The aim of this study was to determine relationship between regular second-hand smoke exposure at home and the spirometric derived values forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory flow 50% and peak expiratory flow rate in healthy school boys in Khartoum.

Methods

A total of 135 male school pupils were selected randomly from three governmental primary schools for boys in Khartoum. . . .

Conclusion

Regular second-hand smoke exposure at home causes significant reduction in FVC and FEV1 by about 7%–8% in school pupils in Khartoum.

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• Japan Tobacco to Pay $450 Million for Sudan Cigarette Maker  

Japan Tobacco Inc. agreed to pay $450 million for a cigarette maker operating in Sudan and oil- rich South Sudan, which gained independence this month after a rebellion that lasted almost 50 years.

Haggar Cigarette & Tobacco Factory Ltd. controls 80 percent of the market in Sudan and is "well established" in the Republic of South Sudan, the Japanese company said. The deal values the maker of Bringi cigarettes at 9.9 times last year's underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, Japan Tobacco said in a statement yesterday.

Japan Tobacco, the world's third-largest publicly traded cigarette maker, plans to boost overseas profit by at least 10 percent as an aging population and a higher cigarette tax weaken demand at home. Net income may expand 11 percent to 161 billion yen ($2.1 billion) this fiscal year on increased prices in Russia and other markets abroad, the Tokyo-based maker of Mild Seven, Camel and LD cigarettes said yesterday.

"This acquisition is positive because it shows the company is eager to grow overseas," Mikihiko Yamato, a Tokyo- based analyst at Japan Invest KK, said by phone yesterday.

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• Decree banning tobacco use in all health institutions and its subordinate units 

Undersecretary of the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Essam El-Din Muhammad Abdullah issued an administrative decision to ban the use and sale of tobacco in all health institutions and units of the Haoohar resolution of Sudan's commitment to global conventions to the fight against tobacco and domestic law for tobacco control for the year 2005 and called for the stakeholders to take mutatis Tnivht / Fiqirergua

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• BAT eyes Sudan as cigarette sales in Kenya stagnate 

British American Tobacco Kenya (BAT) is set to venture into Southern Sudan to expand its export business as the local market comes under increasing regulatory pressures.

The cigarette manufacturer said it was finalising talks with the Southern Sudan government to begin supplying that market by year-end, a move that is expected to grow its export business that absorbs 62 per cent of its production.

“Consumption in Kenya has been flat for about six years now,” said Gary Fagan, the BAT Kenya managing director. “We want to increase our production efficiencies to meet the growing demand from the export market.”

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• Sudan's Bashir hails Khartoum hubbly bubbly ban  

The Khartoum authorities had instructed cafe owners earlier this year not to serve water pipes, also known as nargileh or shisha, to women. But now the ban applies to men as well.

"The police came and made us sign a document in which we agreed to no longer serve nargileh," Salah el-Amin, manager of the upmarket Lisamin Safari Hotel, told AFP.

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Move to stub out smouldering problem 

CONVENTIONAL cigarettes could be outlawed by this time next year and replaced by self-extinguishing cigarettes.

State and territory emergency services ministers meeting in Canberra yesterday supported moves to amend the Trade Practices Act and force tobacco companies to make the change.

It is estimated that between 60 and 70 Australians die each year in domestic fires caused by smouldering cigarettes.

Anecdotal evidence suggests further deaths and millions of dollars of property damage are caused by bushfires ignited by butts thrown from cars. . . .

Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland, who chaired yesterday's meeting, said tobacco companies were on notice to meet the early 2009 deadline -- self-extinguishing cigarettes had been introduced overseas and manufacturing techniques would be available to domestic producers.

A spokesman for British American Tobacco (BAT) said the company supported the introduction of reduced-fire-risk cigarettes but said the industry would require sufficient notice of the standard it would have to meet.

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Smuggled cigarettes flood Arua 

CIGARETTE smugglers taking advantage of the porous southern Sudan and northeastern DR Congo borders are reaping big from the large number of consumers in the West Nile region.

This is threatening to push the largest local producer, British American Tobacco (BATU) out of market.

Such is a reason that prompted the trade state minister, Nabeta Igeme to travel to Arua and Koboko on spot assessment of the problem.

In company of BATU’s top managers, the minister randomly visited kiosks, which he found selling smuggled cigarettes.

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Cigarette Maker Heads for Sudan 

A Kenyan tobacco company is set to build a Sh7.6 billion processing plant in the Sudan, an official said yesterday.

Mastermind Tobacco Kenya Ltd will start building the factory in Khartoum next March, Mr Michael Ngugi told the Nation in Bungoma.

The firm also bought a subsidiary company - Malawi's Continental Tobacco - in April for about Sh15 billion.

Mr Ngugi said: "We are spreading our wings and have registered a subsidiary firm in Tanzania and will put up a plant in Dar es Salaam in a year".

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Stomach cancer deaths plummet 

The number of people dying from stomach cancer dropped sharply across Europe between 1980 and 1999, figures show.

Death Rates fell by half in the European Union, by 45% in Eastern Europe and by 40% in Russia.

Writing in Annals of Oncology, experts said the decline looks set to continue into the near future. . . .

"These include a more varied and affluent diet and better food conservation, including refrigeration," said Professor Carlo La Vacchia, from the Instituto Mario Negri in Milan, who was also involved in the study.

"In addition, there is better control of Helicobacter pylori infection - a bacterium linked to stomach cancer - and reduced levels of smoking, at least in men. . . .

"The causes of stomach cancer are complex, but people can help to reduce their risk by not smoking and by eating fresh fruits and vegetables."

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Palace ad a no-brainer for Quit 

THE Campaign Palace Melbourne has launched a hard-hitting new TV campaign for Quit Victoria.

The TVC opens with the number 131,848, with a voice-over explaining that the figure corresponds to the number of Australians who have died from smoking-related illnesses over the past seven years.

The agency's senior copywriter Andrew North described the campaign as a "no-brainer".

"So much so that Quit produced it ahead of the rest of the campaign that we are developing," he said.

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Sudan's Soaring Cigarette Prices Snuff Out Smokers 

With the soaring cigarette sprices, an increasing number of Sudanese smokers are shifting towards the use of snuff and other tobacco alternatives.

While for a packet of 10 cigarettes a smoker used to pay no more than Sudanese 300 pounds in 1997, one now has to pay 1,000 pounds, the country's minimum wage, for the same amount. . . As to the use of ''hubble-bubbles'' as an alternative of cigarettes which is also a growing practice in the East African country, Dr. Mahdi has kept his reserved position.

''Hubble-bubble tobacco is harmful, but less harmful than cigarette smoke and snuff,'' he said. . . Despite the high cost of cigarettes in Sudan, cigarette companies have not complained of lower sales.

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