Updated: March 17, 2010

March 3, 2010 (China Daily) — Smoking Ban "Mission Impossible"
"BEIJING: Vice-health minister Huang Jiefu slammed local health authorities on Tuesday for inadequate moves to stub out smoking in healthcare facilities, amid renewed efforts by the country to meet a full smoking ban in public places nationwide by next year."
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March 3, 2010 (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) — Tobacco Control Training Course Now Available in all 6 U.N. Languages
"The Institute for Global Tobacco Control (IGTC) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health now offers training in all six official United Nations languages. The translated learning course, 'Global Tobacco Control: Learning from the Experts' is available in Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic and Chinese, as well as English."
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February 3, 2010 (ScienceDaily) — Smoking Cessation Significantly Increases Cardiac Health Later in Life
"Smoking affects your cardiac health both before and after a major event like a heart attack. But how much? And does cutting back instead of quitting have a positive effect as well? There are definitive answers in a new study from Tel Aviv University, the largest and most comprehensive of its kind. The research found that quitting smoking after a heart attack has about the same positive effect as other major interventions such as lipid-lowering agents like statins or more invasive procedures. Study results were reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology."
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February 2, 2010 (Wall Street Journal) — Tobacco Profits Threatened As Plain Packaging Resurfaces
The government in the United Kingdom is debating whether cigarettes should be sold in plain packaging. This move is in support of government pledges to halve the number of smokers in the country over the next 10 years. Under the proposals, packaging would be decorated only with the brand name in standard type and a pictorial health warning—an image of a diseased lung for example. All other trademarks, logos, color schemes and graphics would be prohibited. Stripping cigarette packets of all branding and logos has never been tried in any market.
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January 13, 2010 (China Daily) — Clinics offer smokers help
According to the Beijing Health Promotion Committee, a new effort is underway to develop better smoking cessation resources in hospitals. It could be instituted in as many as 51 top hospitals and 115 level-two hospitals in Beijing. The program is now in development but is expected to include offering both medical and psychological help to those in need.
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January 12, 2010 (Citizen’s-Times.com) — NC law changes, workplace aid add incentives to end tobacco use
"From smoking bans to higher insurance premiums, governments and employers are implementing all sorts of policies that may encourage people to stop using tobacco this year. While some have opted for the stick, or penalty, approach, others like Smith's employer, the Metropolitan Sewerage District, are using a carrot approach to help workers quit using tobacco. Starting this year, the sewerage district increased the amount of money it spends on tobacco cessation from $150 to $2,000 per year per employee, which covers the cost of stop-smoking aids and on-site one-on-one counseling with a tobacco cessation specialist. More than 20 employees have signed up for the program, which amounts to about 40 percent of tobacco users at the company. Smith, who was instrumental in changing the company's policy, is leading the charge."
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January 12, 2010 (Wall Street Journal) — Rise of the Part-Time Smoker
"Taxes have pushed the cost of smoking ever higher ($10 per pack in New York City) and the social costs — in disgusted looks and lectures from friends and family members — have escalated too. Such inconveniences are forcing a sea change in smoking habits and upending traditional approaches to smoking cessation. For one thing, there's a growing group of intermittent and secret smokers who seem to smoke as much for psychological and emotional reasons as nicotine addiction. In addition to breaking the physical addiction, smokers who want to quit today need to understand why, when and where they smoke, and challenge some of the thinking that goes along with it, cessation experts say."
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January 11. 2010 (India Today) — Govt 'quitlines' soon to help you kick the butt
In 2010 the Indian Government is planning to launch, on a pilot basis, a free telephone 'quitline' for smokers. These quit lines are expected to operate in several languages. For example, Delhi’s pilot quitline will operate in Hindi and English. To set up these quitlines, the government first sought help from the American Cancer Society. They’ve now contacted the World Health Organization for support.
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January, 8, 2010 (New York Times) — For the New Year, Cost-Effective Options to Stop Smoking
"Like many ex-smokers, Tonya Guess, 33, of Chesapeake, Va., tried just about everything to quit. There were hundreds of nicotine patches, an online support group, a prescription for an antidepressant and another prescription for Chantix, a drug that helps quell nicotine cravings. Finally, after several false starts, a long period of quitting with a relapse, and a new baby daughter, Ms. Guess quit again. She has not smoked for two years. 'I'm so relieved,' Ms. Guess said. 'It's so great to be free and not be controlled by cigarettes anymore.' Another thing Ms. Guess was relieved about: Her insurance paid for most of her quit-smoking aids. 'It can really add up,' she said. 'Fourteen patches used to cost as much as $40.'"
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January 1, 2010 (Managed Healthcare Executive) — Don't get complacent with smoking cessation
"In 2008, SMOKING in the United States actually increased to 20.6% of U. S. adults. This is the first rise in smoking since 1994. Ten years ago, the Department of Health & Human Services' Healthy People 2010 objective for smoking projected that through increased awareness and policy change as well as the support of government, healthcare and employers, the nation would decrease tobacco use among adults to below 12%."
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