[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
[GLOBALink EuroNews] European Bulletin EU9921 - 28/5/99
!# ---------------------------------
!# GLOBALink Tobacco - Weekly European News Bulletin
!# ---------------------------------
EUROPEAN BULLETIN – EU9921 28 MAY 1999
Headlines
Europe:
Austria: Cinema distributor challenges EU ad ban
Denmark: smoking to be banned at hospitals
Israel: lung cancer decline in men
International:
China: Yunnan reduces dependence on tobacco
Malawi: World Bank upbeat about Malawi's economic performance
Mexico: Smoking related deaths on the increase
Vietnam: No Smoking Week
EUROPE:
Austria: Cinema distributor challenges EU ad ban
An Austrian distributor of cinema advertising is bringing an action in
the European Court of Justice seeking to overturn the European ban on
tobacco advertising. The company, Una Film City Revue of Vienna, is
the sole co-ordinator for cinema advertisements for tobacco products
in Austria. Una Film claims that the ad ban will cause it to suffer
serious economic hardship because it will remove not income from
tobacco advertising but may also affect income from indirect
advertising where tobacco brand names are used to sell other products.
Source: World Tobacco, March 1999
Denmark: smoking to be banned at hospitals
This autumn, the Danish Minister of Health Carsten Koch will propose
that
smoking at hospitals be banned before the end of the year 2000.
This is part of a health programme for the next ten years. The
hospital at Aabenraa, in southern Jutland, is planning to ban
smoking completely from the beginning of 2000.
Source: The Gale Group, 11 May 1999
Israel: lung cancer decline in men
Mortality from lung cancer is decreasing in Israel due to efforts to
reduce
cigarette smoking. A drop in death rates is most evident in men aged
75 and
over who stopped smoking 20 years ago. However, smoking has not
dropped
among women and teenagers. Overall, 28% of the Israeli population
smoke
compared to 40% in 1970. Smokers in Israel are less likely to
contract
cancer than US counterparts although the reasons for this difference
are not
known.
Source: The Gale Group, 9 May 1999
INTERNATIONAL:
China: Yunnan reduces dependence on tobacco
China's Yunnan province is aiming to achieve economic growth of 7.5%
in 1999 by
investing in infrastructure projects and reducing its reliance on
tobacco. It will spend RMB 85bn in roads, bridges, and power
network, up 20% from last year. It will cut its reliance on
the tobacco industry which made up 65% of the province's revenue.
About 30% of the country's tobacco crops and 19% of cigarette
production comes from the province. Because of tobacco industry
downturn due to excessive supply, and low efficiency over the past two
years, the province's tobacco revenue fell by RMB1.7bn in 1998. The
tobacco growers lost RMB 5.7bn.
Source: The Gale Group (original source: South China Morning Post) 6
May 1999
Malawi: World Bank upbeat about Malawi's economic performance
The Malawi economy appears to be improving with the likelihood that
inflation could fall from the current 55% to 23%. After the
devaluation
which took place last August, the Kwacha is beginning to stabilise
against
major currencies. A bumper tobacco crop expected for this year which
is seen by economists as a
positive indicator. The World Bank recently toured the country
and
expressed the opinion that economic recovery has begun.
Source: The Gale Group (original source: AfricaNews Online), 30 Apr
1999
Mexico: Smoking related deaths on the increase
Health officials have expressed concern that five people are dying
every hour from smoking-related diseases in Mexico. Marco Polo Pena,
a leading member of the National Council Against Addictions, said 80
percent of the 14 million smokers in the country began the habit
before they were 14, while five percent smoked their first cigarette
before they were 10.
Pena, a representative of the Mexican Institute of Social Security,
said 90
percent of all deaths from lung cancer are associated with nicotine
poisoning,
which also causes 80 percent of deaths from lung emphysema. He said
that in
Mexico, an average number of five persons die from smoking-related
diseases
every hour, 120 per day and over 42, 000 every year. Noting that there
are now
1.1 billion smokers on a worldwide scale, Pena stressed the importance
of
promoting healthy habits to be highlighted on the World No Tobacco Day
on May 31.
Source: Tobacco News Online, 27/5/99
Vietnam: Launch of No Smoking Week
Vietnam's Ministry of Health, in coordination with the Swedish
International
Development Agency (SIDA), launched a National No-Smoking Week
from May 25 to 31. It has been a traditional no-smoking campaign in
Vietnam since 1997. The aim of the campaign is to promote the
no-smoking habit among people, especially youth and teenagers, in the
interest of the individuals themselves as well as of the national
economy.
Vietnam's Ministry of Health is calling for greater regulation, such
as an
official ban on smoking in public places. With half of its male
population and
3.4 percent of females smoking, Vietnam ranks 22nd in the world,
smoking roughly 416 million US dollars worth of cigarettes in 1998.
Vietnam's army, police, youth and
teenagers in rural areas or urban unemployed youngsters are among the
heaviest smokers.
Source: Tobacco News Online, 27/5/99
Action on Smoking and Health
16 Fitzhardinge Street
London W1H 9PL
Tel: +44 (0)171-224 0743
Fax: +44 (0)171-224 0471
Web: http://www.ash.org.uk