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CDC to launch new, graphic anti-smoking campaign

One of the ads by the Centers for Disease Control shows Shawn Wright who had a tracheotomy after being diagnosed with head and neck cancer. ATLANTA — Tobacco taxes and smoking bans haven’t budged the U.S. smoking rate in years. Now the government is trying to shock smokers into quitting with a graphic nationwide advertising campaign. The billboards and print, radio and TV ads show people whose smoking resulted in heart surgery, a tracheotomy, lost limbs or paralysis. The $54 million campaign is the largest and starkest anti-smoking push by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its first national advertising effort. The agency is hoping the spots, which begin Monday, will persuade as many as 50,000 Americans to stop smoking. “This is incredibly important. It’s not every day we release something that will save thousands of lives,” CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said in a telephone interview. That bold prediction is based on earlier research that found aggressive anti-smoking campaigns using hard-hitting images sometimes led to decreases in smoking. After decades of decline, the U.S. smoking rate has stalled at about 20 percent in recent years. Advocates say it’s important to jolt a weary public that has been listening to government warnings about the dangers of smoking for nearly 50 years. “There is an urgent need for this media campaign,” Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a statement. The CDC was set to announce the three-month campaign on Thursday. One of the print [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-03-15T10:42:46-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Oral HPV infection affects 7% of the US population

Source: www.onclive.com Author: Ben Leach Approximately 7% of Americans are infected with oral human papillomavirus (HPV), and men are 3 times as likely to be infected as women, according to an analysis that helps define a leading factor in the rise of oropharyngeal cancer. The findings of the HPV prevalence study were presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Symposium in Phoenix, Arizona, in January and concurrently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.1 The cross-sectional study was based on samples taken from 5579 men and women between the ages of 14 to 69 years that were obtained at mobile examination centers as part of the National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2009-2010. The samples were obtained through an oral rinse and gargle, with subsequent DNA samples used to determine HPV type. Demographic data were obtained using standardized interviews. HPV prevalence in the overall study population was 6.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.7%-8.3%). HPV type 16, which accounts for 90% of HPVpositive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas, was the most common form, affecting 1.0% of the study population (95% CI, 0.7%-1.3%). Prevalence of HPV was significantly higher in men versus women (10.1% [95% CI, 8.3%- 12.3%] for men compared with 3.6% [95% CI, 2.6%- 5.0%] for women; P < .001]). Sexual contact was identified as a major factor in the rate of infection, with 7.5% of those who had experienced any form of sexual contact (95% CI, 6.1%-9.1%) infected, compared with 0.9% (95% CI, 0.4%-1.8%; P < .001) [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-03-14T12:09:29-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Test Markets Reveal Women Choose Dissolvable Tobacco

Source: Convenience Store News WINSTOM-SALEM, N.C. -- Since starting a second round of testing, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s dissolvable tobacco products are proving popular among women. The product line -- Camel Sticks, Camel Strips and Camel Orbs --do not require spitting, which could be a deciding factor among female tobacco users. According to a report in the Winston-Salem Journal, females represented 45 percent of all adult smokers who bought Camel Sticks, Camel Strips and Camel Orbs during September and October. Of all adult tobacco users, 31 percent were women. By comparison, the news outlet reported that adult males make up 85 percent of moist snuff and Camel Snus users. R.J. Reynolds' dissolvable line is currently being sold in Denver and Charlotte, N.C. The first round of testing took place in Columbus, Ohio Indianapolis and Portland, Ore. "We have seen a noticeable appeal and interest of the dissolvable products with adult female tobacco consumers," Reynolds spokesman David Howard told the newspaper. Stephen Pope, an industry analyst and managing partner of Spotlight Ideas in England, said Reynolds may have discovered a niche with adult female tobacco users. "Clearly the figures for the dissolvable products make for fascinating reading and actually show that here could be a product that, if handled correctly, could well offer an opportunity for a special female-targeted product that could be as significant as Virginia Slims was for Philip Morris," he said. The dissolvable products "could prove to be the first viable smokeless tobacco products for females," stated Bonnie [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-11-22T10:33:04-07:00November, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Kentucky Cancer Center Urges Smokers to Switch to Smoke-Free Tobacco. But is it Really a Better Option?

Source: Yourlife.USAtoday.com In the smoker-heavy state of Kentucky, a cancer center is suggesting something that most health experts won't and the tobacco industry can't: If you really want to quit, switch to smoke-free tobacco. The James Graham Brown Cancer Center and the University of Louisville are aiming their "Switch and Quit" campaign at the city of Owensboro. It uses print, radio, billboard and other advertising to urge smokers to swap their cigarettes for smokeless tobacco and other products that do not deliver nicotine by smoke. Supporters say smokers who switch are more likely to give up cigarettes than those who use other methods such as nicotine patches, and that smokeless tobacco carries less risk of disease than cigarettes do. "We need something that works better than what we have," said Dr. Donald Miller, an oncologist and director of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, which supports the effort along with the University of Louisville. "This is as reasonable a scientific hypothesis as anybody has come up with and it needs to be tried." The campaign runs counter to the prevailing opinion of the public health community, which holds that there is no safe way to use tobacco. Federal researchers, however, have begun to at least consider the idea that smokers might be better off going smokeless. The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health says on its website that the use of all tobacco products "should be strongly discouraged," and that there is "no scientific evidence that using [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-10-31T10:04:54-07:00October, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Packet Helps Smokers Hide Graphic Warnings

Source: tvnz.co.nz Sticky seals in the packets of one brand of cigarettes are helping smokers cover up graphic health warnings. Graphic images of illnesses like gangrene, mouth cancer and lung disease must be printed on every packet of cigarettes to cover 30% of the front and 90% of the back of the pack. ONE News looked at a range of cigarettes from a number of companies. Dunhill was the only product found with a seal inside the packet that can be stuck on the outside. It is labelled "exclusively Dunhill". The sticky 'reloc' seal is just the size to cover health warnings. Michael Colhoun of Action on Smoking and Health says nothing about a tobacco packet is accidental and the sticky seals have been included deliberately. "This seems to be a brand marketing exercise," he said. Fresh-seal stickers are used to cover graphic warning images Manufacturer British American Tobacco says its design is not intended to undermine the law. "We do not condone the practice of using one part of the pack designed for a particular purpose to hide those warnings," the company said. It said the seal is simply for keeping cigarettes fresh. One smoker said the sticker is "sneaky". Some smokers said they will continue using the sticker to hide the images. Quitline says since the graphic images first appeared in 2008, numbers of calls to its helpline have increased. But there are websites and even how-to videos dedicated to showing smokers how to cover the pictures up. This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-10-31T20:45:36-07:00October, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Kids get graphic anti-tobacco message

Source: www.chroniclejournal.com Author: staff Though it’s hard to understand Gruen Von Behrens’ speech, his message could not be clearer. The cancer survivor, who lost much of his neck, chin and tongue to the disease, is on a Northern Ontario high school tour to tell the story of how his chewing tobacco addiction impacted his life. Von Behrens, who started chewing tobacco (also known as dipping) at the age of 13 and was diagnosed with cancer at 17, spoke to hundreds of students in the cafeteria at Thunder Bay’s Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute on Wednesday morning. He said that many young people start smoking or chewing tobacco to look cool. Addressing the crowd, he asked, “How cool will you look? “I want everyone in here to take a good long look at my face,” he added, pointing to his disfigured features. “I was very naive about what tobacco could do to me.” The Thunder Bay District Health Unit sponsored Von Behrens’ speaking engagements in partnership with the Northwest Tobacco Control Area Network and Regional Cancer Care. Steve Tomé, youth engagement facilitator with the health unit, said that the use of chewing tobacco is 10 per cent higher in Northern Ontario than the rest of the province, so the unit wanted to send a message to students that dipping is no safer than smoking cigarettes. “(Von Behrens) has got a great story that high school students can relate to,” Tomé said. Von Behrens, now 34, has undergone 30 surgeries with at [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-10-15T06:01:01-07:00October, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

New cigarette packs will shock

Source: www.adelaidenow.com.au Author: Samantha Maiden Shocking new warnings for cigarette packets will feature sick babies, a dying man and a naked smoker with a colostomy bag. Health Minister Nicola Roxon launched the new health warnings yesterday and confirmed plans to stamp tobacco products with the images from July next year. And the giant warnings will cover 75 per cent of cigarette packets - rather than the current 30 per cent. The new warnings will appear at the same time as world-first plain packaging that will force manufacturers to sell cigarettes in plain, olive-brown packets. The new plain-packing rules will ban branding of any form, removing the last forum for tobacco advertising in Australia. Other images include horrific images of a man dying of lung cancer with his eyes rolled back. A rotting, gangrenous foot and images of a man with tongue cancer are also included. Ms Roxon launched the discussion paper, conceding they were "striking and confronting reminders of the death and disease that tobacco brings." She said the shock tactics were a proven, effective way of helping people to kick the habit. "Seeing the heartbreaking harm that can be caused to an unborn baby or the horrific effects of cancer is a shocking reminder that quitting smoking is one of the best things that someone can do to improve their health," she said. "And 15,000 Australians die from tobacco each year. That's too many families mourning a loved one and why the Government is acting to protect the health [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-09-19T19:14:30-07:00September, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Philip Morris sues Australia over cigarette packaging

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/ Author: Bloomberg News Philip Morris International said it had started legal action against the Australian government over the nation’s plans to allow the sale of cigarettes only in plain packages. The company filed a notice of claim against the government saying that the proposals violate terms of Australia’s Bilateral Investment Treaty with Hong Kong, according to an e-mailed statement on Monday from Philip Morris’s Asian unit. A copy of the court document was not immediately available. Australia, which has already banned the public display of tobacco products in retail outlets, wants to outlaw logos on cigarette packs and force them to be sold in plain dark-olive packaging, carrying health warnings instead of company logos. Cigarette brand names will appear on the packages in the same size and style of printing. The legislation, if passed by Parliament, would come into force in 2012. “The forced removal of trade marks and other valuable intellectual property is a clear violation of the terms of the bilateral investment treaty between Australia and Hong Kong,” Anne Edwards, a spokeswoman for Philip Morris Asia, said in the statement. “We believe we have a very strong legal case and will be seeking significant financial compensation for the damage to our business.” The government raised tobacco taxes by 25 percent last year as it sought to curb smoking, which is the nation’s largest single preventable cause of death, according to the nation’s health minister, Nicola Roxon. “We don’t believe that taking that action is in breach [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-06-27T06:06:24-07:00June, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

A new state approach to reducing tobacco use

Source: www.indystar.com Author: Dr. Gregory N. Larkin This week, Indiana joined the rest of the world in celebrating World No Tobacco Day. This global health observation was created to teach people about the dangers of tobacco use and highlight public health efforts in the fight against the tobacco epidemic. World No Tobacco Day is of particular importance to Hoosiers this year. Beginning July 1, two state government agencies critical to protecting the health of Hoosiers will be combined: the Indiana State Department of Health and Indiana Tobacco Prevention & Cessation. The General Assembly's move to put tobacco cessation within the health department provides additional tools for Indiana to catch up with other states in the race to lower smoking rates and tobacco-related illnesses. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 23 percent of Indiana adults smoke cigarettes, ranking us among the worst five states for adult smoking. Clearly, the adverse health effects of tobacco use continue to increase the rates of diseases as well as increase health costs. Combining efforts will reduce administrative redundancy and saving taxpayer dollars. Valuable ITPC programs, such as the community- and minority-based programs, the Indiana Tobacco Quitline, Quit Now Indiana and the VOICE youth program, will continue. Tobacco reduction and protection from secondhand smoke exposure will now be further integrated into many existing state health promotion programs, such as cancer prevention, oral health, asthma care, maternal/prenatal health, cardiovascular health, and minority, women's and children's health. I assure Hoosiers that by having the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-06-02T13:59:05-07:00June, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Tobacco companies face packaging dispute in Australia

Source: www.thirdage.com Author: Caitlin Bronson The Australian tobacco industry is fighting to retain their rights to advertise on their own packaging in response to legislation slated to be introduced in Parliament in July. The new law would allow the Australian government to replace the currently bright packaging of cigarette packs with a uniform olive green color, along with health warnings and full-color images of the consequences of smoking. The brand name of the cigarette would appear in small print underneath the depictions of things like mouth cancer or gangrenous toes. The logic behind the dull and disturbing packaging is simple—if smoking is presented in an unattractive light, more Australians will quit smoking and less young people will pick up the habit. However, the country does not have a precedent to look to in this matter, as none other has tried it. And the tobacco industry is warning against it. The Associated Press reports that the uniform packaging required by the hypothetical law would be easy to counterfeit, allowing for illegal Asian tobacco, on which tax is not paid, to enter the Australian market. To compete against the illegal product, companies like British American Tobacco Australia Ltd. (BATA) have said they would cut prices for cigarettes. This could backfire on the government, causing more Australians to take up the habit. “If they keep pushing us down this path with this experimental piece of legislation, unfortunately it’s going to end up in court, and it’s likely to cost millions of dollars, and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-05-31T14:18:34-07:00May, 2011|Oral Cancer News|