Raising the Age of Purchase and Use of Tobacco Product in Bangladesh: Benefits and Challenges in Protecting Youth from the Tobacco Epidemic

It is axiomatic that tobacco smoking is hazardous to health. The statistics are well documented and often very grim. For example, the 2008 World Health Organization Report on the global tobacco epidemic presented the following statistics: a hundred million people died of tobacco-related diseases globally in the 20th century; there are approximately over five million tobacco-related deaths every year; and an estimated one billion could die of tobacco-related diseases in this 21st century.Significantly, no other risky, self-indulgent addictive behaviors such as cocaine abuse directly endanger bystanders as much as cigarette smoking or tobacco use endangers nonsmokers through secondhand tobacco smoke or inhaled environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Environmental tobacco smoke comprises sidestream smoke (smoke that emanates from the burning end of a tobacco product) and mainstream smoke (smoke exhaled by the smoker). About 85 percent of environmental tobacco smoke is sidestream smoke, while the remainder is mainstream smoke.

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Electronic cigarettes: the solution or yet another phase of the tobacco epidemic?

South African Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1177/0081246318794828 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 49 (2) ◽

pp. 199-205

Author(s):

Catherine O Egbe ◽

Charles DH Parry ◽

Bronwyn Myers

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Tobacco Use ◽

Electronic Cigarettes ◽

Tobacco Product ◽

World Health ◽

Global Public Health ◽

Negative Consequences ◽

Tobacco Products ◽

Tobacco Epidemic ◽

The Individual

Tobacco use is the single largest preventable cause of death globally. For years, the tobacco industry sought to create a tobacco product that is less controversial than conventional cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes were created out of the supposed need to supply consumers of tobacco products with a less harmful tobacco product. The question remains, is it really less harmful for consumers of traditional cigarettes and other tobacco products to switch to electronic cigarettes? This article takes a closer look at the overall harm in relation to benefits of using electronic cigarettes for the individual and public health and the unintended negative consequences the introduction of electronic cigarette has had on overall public health. Given the evidence that the use of electronic cigarettes is a gateway to the use of other tobacco products especially among adolescents, we view electronic cigarettes as having the potential to cause a rebound of the tobacco use glut which the global public health community has been succeeding in reversing. We therefore support the World Health Organization’s suggestion that electronic cigarettes should be regulated as other tobacco products since there is, as yet, no harmless tobacco product. In the same vein, we view the new Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill seeking to regulate electronic cigarettes in South Africa as other tobacco products as a step in the right direction.

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Heated tobacco products: another tobacco industry global strategy to slow progress in tobacco control

Tobacco Control ◽

10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2018-054340 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 27 (Suppl 1) ◽

pp. s111-s117 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Stella A Bialous ◽

Stanton A Glantz

Keyword(s):

Harm Reduction ◽

Tobacco Control ◽

Tobacco Consumption ◽

Tobacco Product ◽

Global Strategy ◽

Tobacco Products ◽

Control Policies ◽

Tobacco Control Policies ◽

Tobacco Epidemic ◽

Slow Progress

There has been a global decline in tobacco consumption that, if continued, will negatively impact the tobacco industry’s profits. This decline led the industry to invent and market new products, including heated tobacco products (HTP). HTP are an extension of the industry’s strategies to undermine government’s tobacco regulatory efforts as they are being promoted as part of the solution for the tobacco epidemic. Under the moniker of ‘harm reduction’, the tobacco companies are attempting to rehabilitate their reputation so they can more effectively influence governments to roll back existing tobacco control policies or create exemptions for their HTP. Rolling back tobacco control policies will make it easier for the companies to renormalise tobacco use to increase social acceptability for all their products. When regulations are absent or when loopholes exist in classifying HTP as a tobacco product (thus subject to all tobacco control regulations), the industry’s marketing of HTP is making these products more visible to the public and more accessible. Governments need to ensure that HTP are regulated as tobacco products or drugs and reject partnerships with the tobacco companies to promote ‘harm reduction’. The tobacco companies remain the vector of the tobacco-caused epidemic and cannot be part of the global tobacco control solution.

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The failure of the UK to tax adequately tobacco company profits

Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/pubmed/fdz004 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 (1) ◽

pp. 69-76 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

J Robert Branston ◽

Anna B Gilmore

Keyword(s):

Tax Avoidance ◽

Tobacco Product ◽

Tobacco Company ◽

Corporate Tax ◽

Tobacco Products ◽

Corporation Tax ◽

Tobacco Epidemic ◽

Key Driver ◽

Transnational Tobacco Companies ◽

The Uk

Abstract Background A key driver of the global tobacco epidemic is the massive profit earned from manufacturing tobacco products despite high levels of product taxation. Two of the four major Transnational Tobacco companies are based in the UK, where there is growing evidence of corporate tax avoidance by transnational firms and where there are calls for the industry to pay more towards the harms caused by tobacco products. Objectives/Methods UK tobacco company profit and corporation tax data between 2009 and 2016 is obtained from publically available sources. The intention is not to perform a piece of forensic accounting but to establish the broad pattern of profit and taxation in order to inform consideration of tobacco product and firm taxation, and hence public health. Results Very little profit based taxation has been paid in the UK despite high levels of reported profits, both in the domestic market and globally. Conclusions The UK needs better reporting and corporate taxation standards. Tobacco companies should be made to pay more profit based taxation, such as by extending the surcharge on corporation tax currently paid by UK banks, and by making sure companies pay appropriate taxes when reorganizing corporate structures.

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Impact of the WHO FCTC over the first decade: a global evidence review prepared for the Impact Assessment Expert Group

Tobacco Control ◽

10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2018-054389 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 28 (Suppl 2) ◽

pp. s119-s128 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

Janet Chung-Hall ◽

Lorraine Craig ◽

Shannon Gravely ◽

Natalie Sansone ◽

Geoffrey T Fong

Keyword(s):

Tobacco Control ◽

Information Exchange ◽

Data Extraction ◽

Smoking Initiation ◽

Tobacco Consumption ◽

Tobacco Product ◽

Health Warnings ◽

Hand Search ◽

Tobacco Epidemic ◽

The Impact

ObjectiveTo present findings of a narrative review on the implementation and effectiveness of 17 Articles of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) during the Treaty’s first decade.Data sourcesPublished reports on global FCTC implementation; searches of four databases through June 2016; hand-search of publications/online resources; tobacco control experts.Study selectionWHO Convention Secretariat global progress reports (2010, 2012, 2014); 2015 WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic; studies of social, behavioural, health, economic and/or environmental impacts of FCTC policies.Data extractionProgress in the implementation of 17 FCTC Articles was categorised (higher/intermediate/lower) by consensus. 128 studies were independently selected by multiple authors in consultation with experts.Data synthesisImplementation was highest for smoke-free laws, health warnings and education campaigns, youth access laws, and reporting/information exchange, and lowest for measures to counter industry interference, regulate tobacco product contents, promote alternative livelihoods and protect health/environment. Price/tax increases, comprehensive smoking and marketing bans, health warnings, and cessation treatment are associated with decreased tobacco consumption/health risks and increased quitting. Mass media campaigns and youth access laws prevent smoking initiation, decrease prevalence and promote cessation. There were few studies on the effectiveness of policies in several domains, including measures to prevent industry interference and regulate tobacco product contents.ConclusionsThe FCTC has increased the implementation of measures across several policy domains, and these implementations have resulted in measurable impacts on tobacco consumption, prevalence and other outcomes. However, FCTC implementation must be accelerated, and Parties need to meet all their Treaty obligations and consider measures that exceed minimum requirements.

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On the verge of a new era in tobacco control: determining the perceptions and attitudes of IQOS users in Turkey (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.25041 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Fatih Uznay ◽

Sevtap Gumus

Keyword(s):

Young People ◽

Tobacco Control ◽

Tobacco Consumption ◽

Tobacco Product ◽

Positive Contribution ◽

Children And Young People ◽

New Era ◽

Tobacco Control Policies ◽

Perceptions And Attitudes ◽

Tobacco Epidemic

BACKGROUND IQOS is a heated tobacco product which has been spreading worldwide. The manufacturer of the product claims that IQOS is less harmful than conventional cigarettes. OBJECTIVE This study determined the perceptions and attitudes of IQOS users in Turkey and evaluated the possible impacts of heated tobacco products (HTPs) on tobacco control policies and their implementation in the future. METHODS HTPs are banned in Turkey. However, obtaining IQOS in the black market is easy. We conducted a survey consisting of 30 questions by reaching 100 IQOS users within 13 months in the city of Izmir. We used descriptive statistics to analyse the data. RESULTS Of the 100 IQOS users surveyed, (1) 98% stated that IQOS is less harmful than conventional cigarettes (CC); (2) 98% experienced positive changes to their health after completely switching to IQOS from CC; (3) 76% used IQOS in closed spaces; (4) 82% did not reduce their daily tobacco consumption; (5) 62% stated that IQOS encourages ex-smokers to relapse; (6) 80% stated that IQOS stimulates children and young people to start smoking; (7) 86% stated that the smoking satisfaction from IQOS is very close/equal to that from CC; (8) 56% stated that IQOS makes a positive contribution to their personal image; and (9) 40% claimed that quitting IQOS can be easier than quitting CC. CONCLUSIONS HTPs could cause the tobacco epidemic to grow by undermining smokers’ efforts to quit and encouraging ex-smokers, children and young people to start smoking. The idea that IQOS is less harmful than CC, together with the emerging misleading suggestion that nicotine may block COVID-19 symptoms, could trigger the proliferation of HTPs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Heated tobacco product use among Korean adolescents

Tobacco Control ◽

10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2019-054949 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. tobaccocontrol-2019-054949 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Heewon Kang ◽

Sung-il Cho

Keyword(s):

Tobacco Product ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Korean Adolescents ◽

South Korean ◽

Quit Attempts ◽

Current Cigarette ◽

Tobacco Epidemic ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Korean Market

BackgroundHeated tobacco products (HTPs) may compromise decades-long efforts to marginalise the tobacco industry. Their appeal to adolescents imposes a risk of a new tobacco epidemic. Empirical evidence on the behavioural patterns of HTP use among adolescents is required. We investigated the prevalence of HTP use and the association between use of HTPs and e-cigarettes and attempts to quit smoking cigarettes.MethodsNationally representative cross-sectional survey data of South Korean adolescents aged 12–18 years (mean age: 15 years) were used. The survey was conducted 1 year after the introduction of HTPs in Korea. A total of 59 532 adolescents were identified. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression results are presented.ResultsIn all, 2.8% of South Korean adolescents were ever HTP users. Among these, 75.5% were current cigarette users, 45.6% were current e-cigarette users and 40.3% were concurrent users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Unlike ever use of e-cigarettes, which was associated with a higher likelihood of cigarette quit attempts (adjusted OR (aOR)=1.35, 95% CI: 1.16 to 1.58), no difference in cigarette quit attempts was found for ever use of HTPs (aOR=1.07, 95% CI: 0.91 to 1.26).ConclusionConsidering the recent introduction of HTPs to the Korean market and less than 1% prevalence of e-cigarette when first introduced, the prevalence of ever HTP use among Korean adolescents is an important concern. The results showing high polytobacco use and the lack of an association between HTP use and cigarette quit attempts call for a ban on HTP advertisements with modified harm claims.

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