Tobacco kills two in three smokers: Australian Study

A large Australian study of more than 200,000 people has provided independent confirmation that up to two in every three smokers will die from their habit if they continue to smoke.

The research, published today in the international journal BMC Medicine, is the first evidence from a broad cross-section of the population to show the smoking-related death toll is as high as two thirds.

“We knew smoking was bad but we now have direct independent evidence that confirms the disturbing findings that have been emerging internationally, said lead author Professor Emily Banks, Scientific Director of the Sax Institute’s 45 and Up Study and a researcher at the Australian National University.

“Even with the very low rates of smoking that we have in Australia we found that smokers have around three-fold the risk of premature death of those who have never smoked. We also found smokers will die an estimated 10 years earlier than non-smokers.”

Until relatively recently it was thought that about half of smokers would die of a smoking-related illness, but newer studies in UK women, British doctors and Amercian Cancer Society volunteers have put the figure much higher, at up to 67%.

“We have been able to show exactly the same result in a very large population-wide sample,” Professor Banks said.

The research is the result of a four-year analysis of health outcomes from more than 200,000 men and women participating in the Sax Institute’s 45 and Up Study ? the largest longitudinal study of healthy ageing in the Southern Hemisphere.

Australia has one of the lowest smoking rates in the world – at 13% of the population and is an international leader on plain cigarette packaging. “But our findings are an important reminder that the war on tobacco is not yet won, and tobacco control efforts must go on,” Professor Banks said.

The research was supported by the National Heart Foundation of Australia in collaboration with major 45 and Up Study partner Cancer Council NSW and was conducted by a national and international team. It also found that compared with non-smokers, smoking just 10 cigarettes a day doubles the risk of dying and smoking a pack a day increases the risk four- to five-fold.

The NSW Heart Foundation’s CEO, Kerry Doyle, said the Australian Government was on the right path in driving down smoking rates through initiatives like tax increases and plain packaging.

“Higher tobacco prices have been shown to be the most effective intervention available to governments to reduce demand for tobacco. With smoking being a major cause of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, stroke and peripheral vascular disease the more deterrents people have between them and smoking, the better,” Ms Doyle said.

Scott Walsberger, Tobacco Control Manager at Cancer Council NSW, said the research results highlighted an important message for smokers: “It’s never too late to quit ? no matter what your age, or how much you smoke.”

Source: ScienceBlog

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Smokefree workplaces linked to smokefree homes in India

Adults in India are substantially more likely to abstain from smoking at home if they are prohibited from smoking at work, according to a study published in Tobacco Control - an international peer-reviewed journal for health professionals and others in tobacco control.

The percentage of respondents employed indoors (outside the home) working in smoke-free environments who lived in a smoke-free home was 64.0% compared with 41.7% of those who worked where smoking occurred. Indian states with higher proportions of smoke-free workplaces had higher proportions of smoke-free homes. In the individual-level analysis, working in a smoke-free workplace was associated with a significantly higher likelihood of living in a smoke-free home.

The authors of the study, from Imperial College London and the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), say the findings suggest that the implementation of smokefree legislation in India may have resulted in substantial health benefits for the population, particularly for women and children.

“This study suggests that, in India, there is good evidence that smokefree laws in workplaces are associated with a reduction in second-hand smoke at home,” said Dr John Tayu Lee, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, who led the study.

“The results support the idea of ‘norm spreading’, whereby restrictions on smoking in public places make it seem less acceptable to expose others to second-hand smoke more generally, including at home,” said Dr Christopher Millett, from the School of Public Health at Imperial. “They highlight the importance of accelerating the implementation of smokefree legislation more widely in India.” Dr Millett is also a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at PHFI.

"Achieving sustained and equitable reductions in SHS exposure is a high public health priority for India. Our findings highlight the importance of accelerating the implementation of existing national tobacco control legislation on smoke-free public places (Section 4 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003) building on earlier successes in achieving smoke-free environments," the study notes. 

The study can be downloaded here

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Call for bigger health warnings on tobacco product packs

Concerned over the growing tobacco menace in India, health organisations from across the world have asked the Indian Government to oversee new warning labels on tobacco packets.

Tobacco products like cigarettes and gutkas will have more prominent health risk warnings from April 1 this year. 

“Similar health warnings were first proposed in 2006 and they were vigorously opposed in and out of courts by the tobacco industry.

"The Government of India persevered until announcing the new measures last year. The tobacco industry will certainly object to the warnings, just as it does in other countries. 

"We recommend that the tobacco industry simply be ignored and that priority be given to the health of the Indian population,” wrote Laurent Huber, director of Framework Convention Alliance (FCA), Switzerland. 

“If countries such as Nepal, Thailand, Australia and Uruguay can implement similar size warnings (80-90 per cent), there is no reason why India cannot. 

"The FCA also notes that in India, the new warnings will apply to tobacco products generally and not just cigarettes. This is essential, given the diversity of tobacco products in Indian market,” he added. 

Various international public health organisations working on tobacco control and cancer have individually written letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda on the new tobacco package issue. 

“The large and improved warnings on tobacco packs serve as a no-cost and proven mass education tool that can protect the health of our people... The best evidence of their efficacy lies in the tobacco industry’s opposition to the warnings. 

"The Government needs to prioritise the nation’s health over narrow commercial interests,” said Shoba John, Health Bridge programme director. 

Former Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had on October 15, 2014, issued a notification requiring tobacco manufacturing firms to devote at least 85 per cent of the surface areas of all tobacco products on both sides to graphically and literally represent the statutory warning. 

“Awareness has increased gradually regarding the harmful effects of tobacco. This decision will further help,” said Dr Jagdish Kaur, Chief Medical Officer at the Union health ministry, adding: “Industries have been given enough time to prepare new stocks.” 

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