Korea Must Increase Cigarette Prices

World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan claims the best way to cut down on smoking is to make cigarettes more expensive. Chan, who attended an international seminar in Seoul on ways to curb smoking, pointed out that cigarette prices in Korea, which are around US$2 a pack, are far too cheap compared to $17 in Australia and $10 in Canada. Some 4,000 different substances go into cigarettes, and 1,200 of them are hazardous to health. They include around 20 cancer-causing agents, such as tar and phenol. It is now believed that cigarette smoking accounts for 30 percent of cancer cases around the world.

Smoking Tobacco Increased Among Women

Classical dancer Sheema Kirmani has deplored that the habit of smoking among women of various age groups is on the rise, resulting in growing tobacco-related health complications for them. Following a play against smoking held at the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) in collaboration with the All Pakistan Women Association (APWA), she said that a large number of Pakistani women of different age groups were now in the habit of smoking and consuming tobacco in its different forms.

Tobacco Use in Movies Increased, Kids Smokers

Onscreen tobacco use increased by 34% per movie last year in films targeted at children and teens, according to a new study. Researchers say the dramatic rise in smoking scenes in top-grossing U.S. movies with a G, PG, or PG-13 rating ends five years of steady decline in onscreen tobacco use. “The growth in onscreen tobacco use in 2011 reversed years of progress toward tobacco-free youth-rated movies,” write researcher Stanton Glantz, PhD, of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues in Preventing Chronic Disease.

Contraband Cigarettes Grabed at Beit Bridge

Contraband cigarettes worth about R3 million have been confiscated at the Beit Bridge border post, the Tobacco Institute of SA (Tisa) said on Thursday. On Tuesday, SA Revenue Services (Sars) customs officials found the cigarettes in a fuel tanker coming into Limpopo from Zimbabwe, Tisa said in a statement. Around 25 000 cartons were concealed in the fuel tanker and its trailer. The tanks had been fitted with false compartments around the top access hatch, which meant that a dipstick test would have indicated the tanker was empty.

Advertisements Tempts Local Smokers

As the young boy ran from the translucent cloud of toxic cigarette smoke, he sent a powerful message about harm reduction.The No Durri for this Murri campaign aims to reduce indigenous smoking rates by getting the community thinking about harm reduction. North Coast Aboriginal Corporation for Community Health yesterday launched its second advertising strategy aimed the local Indigenous community.

Tobacco Products Advertising Banned, Ukraine News

The law banning tobacco products advertising has come into force. The document was signed by President Viktor Yanukovych and published in March, but has come into force as of September 16 according to transition provisions.