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Latest News
News Archives > 2008, 2007, 2006,
News 2009 Abbott slams 'trivial' smoking ban3/07/2009 Coalition frontbencher Tony Abbott says New South Wales is playing nanny state politics with its ban on smoking in cars when children are present. The former federal health minister has told a public health debate at Sydney University that smoking in front of children is a trivial issue and states should not intervene.
The NSW ban comes after similar moves in South Australia and Tasmania, with other states expecting to follow suit. Read the ABC Online story. Renewed push to ban cigarette branding on packs 2/07/2009 PRESSURE is mounting for brand labels to be removed from cigarette packets - a move that the tobacco industry bluffed a previous Labor government out of pursuing, according to anti-tobacco campaigners.
The Public Health Association, the Cancer Council and Heart Foundation yesterday swung behind Family First Senator Steve Fielding's move to introduce legislation banning brand labels on cigarette packs. "There is no case for allowing any glossy brand promotion for a product that is lethal and addictive," Senator Fielding said. Read the Brisbane Times story. Taxpayers to help obese and smokers 2/07/2009 TAXPAYERS would fund group therapy for smokers and those battling the bulge under wide-ranging plans to ease the burden on public hospitals.
On the eve of two landmark health reports being handed to the Rudd Government, Health Minister Nicola Roxon is being urged to give smokers and the overweight access to Medicare rebates for specialised quit programs. Under the Australian Medical Association plan, which is likely to be partly mirrored by two Government-commissioned reviews, at-risk patients will be rewarded for trying to better their lifestyle. Read the Courier Mail story. US moves to restrict tobacco 15/06/2009 The US Senate has overwhelmingly voted to give regulators powers to limit nicotine in cigarettes, drastically curtail ads that glorify tobacco and ban flavoured products aimed at spreading the habit among young people. President Barack Obama, who has spoken of his own struggle to quit smoking, said yesterday that he was eager to sign the legislation after minor differences with a house version were worked out. The house was planning to vote overnight. Cigarette foes said the measure would reduce deaths and the $120billion in annual healthcare costs linked to tobacco. Read the Australian story. DNA-test to show lung cancer risk 10/06/2009 Smokers and former smokers can now take a DNA-based test to identify whether they are genetically susceptible to getting lung cancer.
The test, developed at Auckland University, was the first in the world to provide a personalised estimate of lung cancer risk, by combining results of DNA analysis with other known risk factors for the disease (age, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and family history of lung cancer). Read the New Zealand Herald story. Health insurers invest in tobacco 5/06/2009 LEADING US, Canadian and British life and health insurance companies have billions of dollars invested in tobacco companies, a new study says.
Wesley Boyd, lead author of the study published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that at least $US4.4 billion ($5.38 billion) in insurance company funds are invested in companies whose affiliates produce cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco. "Despite calls upon the insurance industry to get out of the tobacco business by physicians and others, insurers continue to put their profits above people's health," wrote Dr Boyd, of Harvard Medical School. "It's clear their top priority is making money, not safeguarding people's wellbeing." Read the Australian story.
Boomers drag the chain on quitting 3/06/2009 MORE than 20 per cent of South Australian smokers have quit the habit in the past decade, research has found. Baby boomers, however, have been singled out as the one group that is ignoring the health warnings with almost no change in the smoking rates of 45 to 59-year-olds.
The group that has most altered its habits are those in the 60 year-plus category, with the prevalence dropping by 40 per cent. Quit SA says the trends are a consequence of higher prices, a ban on advertising, smoke-free pubs and graphic health campaigns. Read the Advertiser online story. University of SA bans outdoor smoking 3/06/2009 OUTDOOR smoking has been banned at the University of South Australia's two city campuses. It is the first university in the state to make the move. The decision, announced to staff and students in an email yesterday, pushes smokers into two designated smoking bays on each campus.
Business pro vice chancellor Professor Gerry Griffin, based at the City West campus, said other universities were likely to follow. Read the Advertiser online story. Graphic warnings on cigarette packets 3/03/2009 The introduction of graphic warnings on cigarette packets was a major milestone for tobacco control in Australia, says QuitSA, with new research showing calls to the Quitline doubled after the graphic warnings were introduced. Research published in the Tobacco Control Journal was undertaken by Ms Caroline Miller, University of Adelaide PhD candidate, and General Manager of Cancer Control at Cancer Council SA.
Quit SA to help Port Augusta KICK THE HABIT 16/02/2009 Quit SA staff will be visiitng Port Augusta from 23-27 of February 2009 and working closely with health workers, community workers and smokers to help reduce the smoking rate in the area. Back to top |
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