European News Bulletin - EU9946 - 6 December 1999 (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

Another installment of Globalink's invaluable European News Bulletin:

EUROPEAN BULLETIN EU9946 – 6 December 1999

Headlines

EUROPE: New Europe-wide tobacco association

IRELAND: Fewer now trying to stop smoking
NETHERLANDS: Green light for Glaxo's Zyban
SWEDEN: Stop Smoking Year 2000 - Sweden’s biggest stop-smoking campaign 
UKRAINE: Government gets help in legal fight against tobacco


INTERNATIONAL

INDIA: Swedish Match to sell snuff in India.

VIETNAM: Government action to reduce tobacco consumption



Full Text

EUROPE: New Europe-wide tobacco association

The European tobacco industry has formed a new PR body representing all
sectors within the industry. The Tobacco House was formed in October this
year and comprises the International Union of Tobacco Planters (Unitab),
the European Federation of Tobacco Transformers (Fetratab), the European
Confederation of Cigarette Manufacturers (CECCM), the Group of European
Tobacco Industries (Gites) and the European Federation of Tobacco
Retailers (CEDT). The new body is sited at the headquarters of Fetratab in
Brussels. The aim of the organisation is to promote a "better
understanding of the activities of a sector which currently employs 1.42
million people within the European Union." According to Tobacco Europe,
high on the agenda will be the need to highlight cases where sectors of
the industry such as planters are "necessary to the social, environmental
and economic fabric" of Europe’s poorer regions. Tobacco House will lobby
the EU on behalf of its members and will act as a "debating ground" on
issues which concern all or some of its members.

Source: Tobacco Europe, November/December 1999


IRELAND: Fewer now trying to stop smoking

The number of smokers trying to quit has dropped significantly over the
past two years, a leading respiratory consultant has said. Dr Luke Clancy,
chairman of ASH Ireland, said 17 per cent of smokers were trying to give
up whereas two years ago the figure was 23 per cent. He was presenting the
results of an independent survey of 1,400 adults carried out on behalf of
the nicotine replacement manufacturer, Nicorette.

Describing the findings as "of major concern", Dr Clancy said that even if
the number of teenagers smoking was halved, without an increase in the
number of people successfully quitting there would be no significant fall
in the number of smoking-related deaths for 50 years.

"It’s not that Irish smokers have stopped wanting to quit," he said. Seven
out of 10 still do, the survey finds. "What seems to be happening is that
most of today’s smokers . . . have actually tried to quit without success.
However, rather than try again . . . smokers are cutting down and moving
to lighter brands."

The survey finds some 16 per cent of smokers have moved to lighter
cigarettes over the past five years. Professor Godfrey Fowler,
vice-chairman of ASH (UK) described "light" cigarettes as "a total
deception". "Tobacco manufacturers market these as somehow safer than
ordinary cigarettes, but smokers smoke them more intensely and probably do
themselves more harm," he said.

The survey found that those trying to quit are more likely to be female
(22 per cent compared with 14 per cent male); aged under 25 years (22 per
cent under 25 compared with 16 per cent over 25); and in the higher
socio-economic groups (21 per cent in the higher SEGs compared with 16 per
cent in the lower).

Over half (51 per cent) of smokers surveyed said they had tried to give up
in the last two years, 15 per cent had tried more than twice and 92 per
cent described quitting as "difficult". Of those who were unsuccessful,
the average time smokers managed to stay off cigarettes was two months.

Dr Clancy said the blunt "stop smoking" message was shown to have little
effect in reducing the number of smokers. "Here's how to stop" is a more
positive and helpful message, he said and advocated a wider use of
nicotine replacement therapies (NRT).

Irish Times - Wednesday, December 1, 1999


NETHERLANDS: Green light for Glaxo's Zyban

The Netherlands Medicine Evaluation Board has given its approval to Zyban,
a stop-smoking aid. Now that one EU country has approved the drug, other
member states are likely to follow suit over the next few months.


Zyban, which will be available only on prescription, is a new development
in smoking cessation treatment. It works by targeting the nervous system,
tackling addiction pathways. According to Glaxo, the global market for
smoking cessation is worth $750m (£470m). Analysts predict that Zyban will
result in annual sales of around £150m by 2003.

Source: Electronic Telegraph, Thursday, 12/2/99


SWEDEN: Stop Smoking Year 2000 - Sweden’s biggest stop-smoking campaign

The biggest-ever-stop-smoking campaign in Sweden was inaugurated at the
end of November, 1999. Entitled "Stop Smoking Year 2000", the campaign has
two main objectives: to provide counsel and support to as many as possible
of all those who decide to quit smoking at the onset of the new
millennium; and to increase awareness among political decision-makers of
the risks associated with tobacco use.

The campaign is a joint project of the Swedish Network for Tobacco
Prevention which includes the following organisations: the Swedish Cancer,
Heart-Lung, and Larynx societies; VISIR (We who do not smoke); and the
Association of Professionals against Tobacco, including doctors, nurses,
dentists, teachers and pharmacists.

For a fee of 200 kronor anyone who wants to quit smoking receives a
participation certificate and a kit of materials, information on where to
find counsel and support, and a pocket-sized book with step-by-step and
day-by-day instructions on how to succeed at quitting.

Participants are also invited to submit their reasons for quitting,
expressed in twenty words or less. The entries judged to be best will be
rewarded with mobile telephones, portable radios and CD-players, books,
and computer games. A basic condition of the competition is that
participants be able to verify that they have succeeded in abstaining from
tobacco for a period of at least three months.

Registration for participation in the campaign is open until 29 February
2000. The final prizes will be awarded on May 31st, on World No-Tobacco
Day.

The campaign received a great deal of attention when it was launched on
November 22nd with press conferences at thirty locations around the
country. On that and the following day, over fifty mass media carried
reports on Stop Smoking Year 2000. During the month of January, Swedish
television will broadcast ten programmes with a serious and informative,
yet at the same time humorous, message. Radio programmes on the effects of
smoking and how to quit will be carried by national and local stations all
over the country. Leading newspapers will also publish articles on the
same themes.


Source: Correspondence from Carl-Olof Ryden, via Globalink, 3/12/99



UKRAINE: Government gets help in legal fight against tobacco

A Florida lawyer is helping the former Soviet republic of Ukraine in its
legal fight against tobacco companies. Jackson lawyer John Arthur Eaves
Jr. has filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of
Columbia. The suit names as defendants American Brands, Brown and
Williamson Tobacco Corp., Liggett Group, Lowes Corp., Philip Morris Inc.,
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, their parent companies and the Tobacco Institute.

The lawsuit seeks reimbursement for the government’s cost for treating
sick smokers. Eaves said the government is working on calculations for its
health-care costs related to smoking. The lawsuit does not ask for a
specific amount of damages, but seeks reimbursement for past and future
health-care costs. The lawsuit cites 1995 statistics of 107,000
tobacco-related deaths a year in the Ukraine.

Source: Biloxi Sun Herald, via Associated Press, Friday, 11/26/99


INTERNATIONAL

INDIA: Swedish Match to sell snuff in India.


Swedish Match plans to expand snuff sales in India. The company will
initially sell snuff flavoured with liquorice and is investigating the
production of other flavours such as eucalyptus. Swedish Match is
evaluating the potential for exporting snuff to 175 markets, with its main
focus on developing countries.

Source: Tobacco International, November 1999


VIETNAM: Government action to reduce tobacco consumption


Measures to reduce tobacco consumption have been announced by the Ministry
of Trade. These include a ban on street vendors, the prohibition of
cigarette sales in state agencies, hospitals, schools, theatres and sports
arenas. Businesses will also be forbidden from using tobacco products as
prizes or gifts in sales promotions and they will no longer be permitted
to use cigarette vending machines to sell cigarettes to children under the
age of 16.

Source: Tobacco Reporter, November 1999


Amanda Sandford Research Manager ASH 102 Clifton Street LONDON EC2A 4HW
tel: 0171 739 5902 fax: 0171 613 0531