TambakooKills News Bulletin (20 May 2008): Issue 382

TambakooKills News Bulletin
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
Issue 382

Advertising giant pushes 'right to choice' argument
The Times of India, 19 May 2008
Santosh Desai, leading advertising giant, has authored this article

Excerpt:
Death is the leading cause of death. Not smoking, not drinking, not eating too many chips. Even dreaded diseases do not cause death; they are merely the vehicles in which the inevitable becomes imminent…

People smoke, drink and eat greasy food because they want to and not only because some star is asking them to do so. Celebrity anti-smoking campaigns do not really work, in spite of the same star power being behind them. Smoking exists not only because of advertising but because it conforms to the notion of what is cool that is prevalent in society…

It reduces the freedom of everyone else. Not showing people drink in films is a start; tomorrow we could well stop them from eating fried foods, ice-cream, drinking coffee and jaywalking. The belief that representation equals reality is a naive one. Not showing something will not make it disappear…

It is a choice that they must be free to make. If they want to be seduced by images of their heroes chomping chips, so be it. For it must be remembered that no matter what the good health minister does, we are all going to die. It might make sense to focus on living rather than be obsessed with not dying.

To read the complete news, click here
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Ministry's bidi report poses threat to Bidi sector
Financial Express, 20 May 2008

Excerpt:
Bidi tobacco is cultivated in around 30% of the total area under tobacco crop and its production accounts 33% of the total tobacco production. About 2,90,000 farmers grow bidi tobacco in India and around 4.4 workers are employed in production of bidis. This employment-oriented sector has become controversial with a recent paper of the Union ministry of health and family welfare entitled -- Bidi Smoking and Public Health Hazards.

To read the complete news, click here
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Farmers jubilant as tobacco prices soar
The Times of India, 19 May 2008

Excerpt
"The drastic fall in production in Zimbabwe from 250 million kgs to 60 million kgs, due to internal problems including racial unrest is one of the major factors that boosted the prices of Indian stock. In addition, nearly 70 million kg shortage of production has been reported from one of the major tobacco producing nation Brazil" said Y Sivaji, former Member of Parliament and present president of Virginia tobacco growers association,

To read the complete news, click here
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Bhutanese people smoke smuggled cigarettes from India, 'Wills Navy Cut' is a favourite
Thai Indian News, 20 May 2008
The Hindu, India: 20 May 2008

Excerpt
In 2004, the kingdom became the first country in the world to ban the sale of tobacco and prohibit public smoking. People may smoke in the privacy of their homes but are forced to rely on smuggled cigarettes. Though there is little evidence to suggest smokers here have kicked their habit in large numbers, the ban is believed to have sharply reduced the number of first-time smokers, especially among the young.

But despite the ban many still smoke in the privacy of their homes, relying on cigarettes smuggled from Phuntsholing, 175 km from the Bhutanese capital or from India. Wills Navy Cut is a hot favourite.

To read both the news, click on Thai Indian News and The Hindu
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Workplace programmes can improve health - new study
Reuters, 20 May 2008

Excerpt
Workplace programmes targeting physical inactivity and unhealthy dietary habits are effective in mitigating the impact of obesity, diabetes and heart disease, according to a study published on Monday.

Unhealthy diets and excessive energy intake, physical inactivity and tobacco use are major risk factors for non-communicable diseases, it said.

To read the complete news, click here
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Awards for tobacco control
The Indian Express, Chandigarh, India: 19 May 2008

Excerpt
Burning Brain Society (BBS), a local NGO, has announced its annual awards for people working on tobacco control. The awards will be given to individuals and organisations contributing their bit . The eight categories of awards include two awards in Best Enforcement Activity; five awards in Best Mass Media Effort; two awards in Best Civil Society Efforts; two awards in Tobacco Control Bravery; one award each in Best State Government Initiative; Best District/ City Initiative; Best Educational Institute Initiative and Best Business House Initiative.

To read the complete news, click here
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Jointly brought to you by the Tambakoo-Kills youth team supported by:

Indian Society Against Smoking (ISAS), Abhinav Bharat Foundation (ABF), Asha Parivar, Citizen News Service (CNS) and Tobacco Cessation Clinic of CSM Medical University

Email: Tambakoo.Kills@gmail.com
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