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Public health groups strongly support bipartisan FDA tobacco legislation

Our public health organizations strongly support the bipartisan legislation introduced today in both the House and Senate to provide the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with effective authority to regulate tobacco products.

20 May 2004

New study of tumor genetics may help to treat patients with head and neck cancer

Head and neck tumors account for more than 40,000 new cancers annually in the United States. The most common of these is squamous cell carcinoma. Prognosis is based largely on location and size of the tumor, and if the cancer has spread, or metastasized, to lymph nodes and distant sites in the body.

19 May 2004

Canadian Statement to the World Health Assembly focuses on AIDS

The WHO's leadership is particularly important in the fight to combat HIV/AIDS. Last week, Canada bolstered its financial commitment to this effort with contributions of $100 million for WHO's '3 by 5 initiative', and $70 million to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Canada and Canadians are proud to take these actions against HIV/AIDS.

19 May 2004

One person per week dies in British hospitality industry from passive smoking

New figures to be presented at a Royal College of Physicians (RCP) conference today will show that every week in the UK one hospitality industry employee dies from passive smoking at work. The new figures, calculated by Professor Konrad Jamrozik of Imperial College in London, will be presented at the RCP conference called ‘Environmental Tobacco Smoke and the Hospitality Industry’.

17 May 2004

Exposure to nicotine may change adolescents' brains and behavior

The adolescent brain appears to be more responsive to nicotine’s rewarding effects than the adult brain, a UC Irvine Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC) animal study has found.

15 May 2004

UK Government running out of excuses for not acting to implement a ban on smoking in public places

The Government is rapidly running out of excuses for not acting to implement a ban on smoking in public places. Despite widespread public support for smokefree policies in the UK the Government is still undecided on the issue.

14 May 2004

100,000 fewer New Yorkers smoking

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) today announced an 11% decline in the number of smokers in New York City from 2002 to 2003.

12 May 2004

Fewer pregnant women in Washington are smoking

Fewer pregnant women in Washington are smoking. The percentage of women in our state who smoke during the last three months of pregnancy has dropped to 10 percent, according to new survey data released today by the Washington State Department of Health. That is the lowest rate since the department began surveying in 1998. At that time, 13 percent of pregnant women were smoking, but since then the number has steadily dropped.

12 May 2004

United States signs Tobacco Control Treaty

On behalf of the United States, HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on Monday at the United Nations. The FCTC is the first-ever global public health treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO).

11 May 2004

68 percent of smokers want help quitting

According to a study just published in Preventive Medicine, 68 percent of smokers who were offered free cessation treatment at their regular clinics took advantage of the invitation.

11 May 2004

New Canadian Fat Lab

As obesity is fast overtaking tobacco as the leading risk factor for heart disease, a new laboratory for studying the biology of fat cells (adipocytes) is opening its doors at the Henderson Research Centre.

5 May 2004

New Yorkers reminded to practice good asthma management

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) today reminded New Yorkers with asthma - who may be at risk of increased symptoms during allergy season - to practice good asthma management, including identifying and avoiding asthma triggers and taking appropriate medications as directed by a health care provider.

5 May 2004

AMA survey shows Americans happy to increase state alcohol taxes

A new national survey on alcohol taxes released today by the American Medical Association Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse reveals that 90 percent of Americans are concerned about teenage and underage drinking and that voters, by a margin of two to one, favor a tax increase on alcohol in their states to help fund prevention programs.

4 May 2004

Teenagers ignore warnings on skin cancer

For most teens, getting a tan during spring break or in preparation for the prom is as common as these rites of passage themselves. Although teens hear dermatologists’ warnings that tanning is the most avoidable risk factor in the prevention of skin cancer, studies find they forgo this advice in favor of the bronzed look.

3 May 2004

Could Britain follow California and New York by going smoke free

Since the Royal Medical Colleges widely-publicised call last November for smoke-free public places, there have been many developments in this area.

29 Apr 2004

Launch of first national multicultural diabetes prevention campaign

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) launched the first national multicultural diabetes prevention campaign

28 Apr 2004

Russia's housing conditions linked to high rates of asthma amongst children

Scientists from the University of Birmingham, UK, have worked with the Harvard School of Public Health and universities in Russia to look for the first time at environmental factors causing breathing problems in Russian children.

28 Apr 2004

Morning cough six times more likely to disappear if you stop smoking

It seems logical enough: if you stop smoking, there is every chance that certain tobacco-related complaints will improve or even disappear. Yet no long-term study has ever been undertaken to confirm or disprove this piece of folk wisdom. A cohort study to be published in April's European Respiratory Journal (ERJ) will now fill that gap.

27 Apr 2004

Heart disease and stroke hit younger in developing countries

A new report to be released at Columbia University's Earth Institute on April 26, 2004, suggests that heart disease and stroke are far more urgent threats to global health than commonly appreciated. They are causing hundreds of thousands of deaths each year in young people of productive age.

26 Apr 2004

New Saint Louis University research sheds light on how obesity occurs

Saint Louis University researchers believe they’ve won a major skirmish in the battle of the bulge, and their findings are published in the May issue of Diabetes.

26 Apr 2004