Cigarette Consumption Control, the University of Indonesia

Without a concerted effort to control cigarette consumption, Indonesia will likely fail to achieve the so-called “demographic dividend” which is expected to materialize between 2020 and 2030, an analyst said. Abdillah Ahsan, a researcher from the University of Indonesia (UI) School of Economics Demographic Institute, said that increased cigarette consumption could tamper with the Indonesian population’s quality of life.

E-Cigarette - Concerns About Its Safety

Researchers from the Center for Global Tobacco Control at the Harvard School of Public Health are suggesting that electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) adversely affect users’ airways, thus raising concern about the safety of these products. But we here at ACSH remain baffled as to why these studies continue to ignore the relative dangers of actual smoking. The current study, published in the journal Chest, provided 30 so-called “healthy” smokers with e-cigarettes, the electronic devices that deliver a dose of nicotine in a vaporized liquid, thereby eliminating the dangerous combustion products of cigarette smoke. After five minutes of using an e-cigarette, the participants’ lungs showed signs of airway constriction and “inflammation,” researchers found.

Severe Tobacco Control Law Soon

The government plans to amend the tobacco control law to ban smoking in public places, the health and family planning minister has told parliament. Responding to a supplementary query from Nazma Akther MP during the question-answer session on Thursday, A F M Ruhul Haque said the law would be amended to impose fines for smoking at restricted places. The minister said printing of health warning messages with 50 percent photo coverage on cigarette and tobacco packets would also be made compulsory in the amended law. The other plans include making workplaces, including all government institutions, hotels, restaurants and salons, smoking-free zones, taking legal action against tobacco growers, and putting a strong market policy in place against publicity by companies, logos and brand colours through exhibition of films and advertisement.

The Battling Tobacco Addiction

Average lifespan of a Gujarat police official is barely 60 years, reveal studies conducted by medical experts. The reasons for the phenomenon range from lifestyle with no fixed schedule to bad eating habits and use of tobacco products.

To help the middle-rung officials in the state police force quit the habit of tobacco use, an awareness campaign has been organised jointly by the city police and state tobacco control cell from Monday to Friday.