Smoke Alarm

Ten lakh people in India die from tobacco-related diseases every year. India, after China, has the second largest population of tobacco consumers in the world—30 crore consume oral tobacco, mainly women in rural areas, often risking head and neck cancers, and another 20 crore, predominantly men, risk lung cancer, coronary artery disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by smoking. Health policy should aim to add years to life and add life to years. As smoking and oral tobacco take so many lives in India, reducing the number of such deaths should be high priority for policy makers and medical professionals. Fortunately, technological advances have made that task easier. In 2004, Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik developed the world’s first commercially viable electronic cigarette. This produces an aerosol that provides nicotine while avoiding the tar and other toxic products of tobacco combustion.

2019-08-06
theweek.in

Can Africa Be 100% Smoke-Free in Our Lifetime?

Even as more countries adopt measures such as smoke-free environments and warnings on packaging, the number of smokers continues to grow in Africa. The continent now has over 77 Million smokers, 250,000 of them dying every year from smoking related diseases. Despite the FCTC supported measures, the number of smokers remains stubbornly high. A recently launched W.H.O report on the global tobacco epidemic focuses on offering help to quit, emphasizing the need for Government to offer viable cessation services to smokers to help them quit. African countries have little to no available cessation services, which beg the question; can the continent be 100% smoke-free in our lifetime?

2019-08-06
medium.com

Decoding the Medical Evidence in the Debate on E-Cigarettes

It is an established fact that tobacco use, primarily cigarette smoking, is the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality. Smoking causes approximately 84% of deaths from lung cancer and 83% of deaths from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in the world, as per the UK’s National Health Service. In India, too, the tobacco epidemic is rapidly increasing and nearly 28.6% of all Indians are tobacco users. Cigarettes expose smokers to a deadly cocktail of chemicals, carcinogens and respiratory toxicants, which are byproducts to the burning of tobacco. Smoking damages airways and alveoli (air sacs) in the lungs, causing lung cancer and COPD, which includes lung conditions like emphysema, chronic bronchitis and inflammation. As per CDC estimates, smokers are 12 to 13 times more likely to die of (..)

2019-08-06
health.economictimes.indiatimes.com

What India Needs to Do With E-Cigarettes: Tighter Regulations or Complete Ban?

In India, no independent studies have been conducted or regulatory mechanisms put in place on the use of e-cigarettes. It is, however, a signatory to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which calls upon countries to regulate the use of e-cigarettes or ban them altogether. Many activists trace the resistance faced by e-cigarettes in India to the FCTC guidelines. In July, some media reports, citing anonymous sources from the Health Ministry, said the Union government intended to put a complete ban on e-cigarettes and vaping products. The move came after the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), in May, backed a total ban on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), saying such devices become a gateway to smoking and had the potential to get a nonsmoker addicted to nicotine. Vaping, it said, had an impact across the life course, “from womb to the tomb”. On the face of it, the government’s crackdown on e-cigarettes seems counter-intuitive, especially when (..)

2019-08-06
economictimes.indiatimes.com

Will We Ever Stamp Out Smoking Entirely?

Last week, the government quietly published its Prevention Green Paper, which sets out aims to eradicate smoking by 2030. How this would be achieved was left vague, with details of the plan to be sketched out at a later date. It was also reportedly almost canned by Health Secretary Matt Hancock to avoid riling incoming Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has made clear his opposition to so-called “sin taxes”. But is it even possible to eradicate smoking entirely? Britain has the second-lowest rate of smoking in Europe (behind only Sweden), but despite all the measures taken to discourage the habit, just under 15 per cent of the population still smoke. This percentage rises among certain groups, such as blue collar workers, those who live in social housing and those with mental illnesses. Those in the LGBTQ community are also more likely to smoke (..)

2019-08-06
newstatesman.com

Federal Court Ruling Threatens Smaller Vape Companies’ Survival

Smaller manufacturers of vaping products face a major obstacle to survival after the release a few weeks ago of long-overdue application guidelines for market approval. The guidelines could eliminate hundreds, if not thousands, of alternative nicotine products from shelves—including some of the most popular options used by adults trying to quit smoking. Electronic nicotine delivery devices and liquids, which provide a less harmful way for smokers to consume nicotine, have been in regulatory limbo since 2016, when they came under Food and Drug Administration authority. At that time, the FDA required manufacturers of all nicotine products introduced to the market or modified after 2007 to submit applications to evaluate their suitability for sale. Failure to do so would put them at risk of removal from the market.

2019-08-06
filtermag.org