Pharmacies Join Bid To Stub Out Smoking

[george]

Pharmacies join bid to stub out smoking

New campaign to be unveiled on Tuesday

BANGKOK: -- At least 200 pharmacies nationwide will join an anti-smoking campaign next month by offering a counselling service, and selling various aids aimed at easing the craving among smokers trying to quit.

The campaign, a cooperation between the Action on Smoking and Health Foundation (ASH) and the Pharmacies' Network, will be launched on Tuesday to mark World No Tobacco Day.

Pharmacies participating in the campaign will display ''Smoke-Free Pharmacy'' stickers in their stores and provide leaflets informing customers of the dangers of smoking with advice on how to quit.

Katha Bunditanukul, president of the Community Pharmacists' Foundation, said pharmacies can play an active role in helping people to stop smoking because they are close to the community and are accessible to all. Mr Katha, himself an owner of a Bangkok pharmacy, said many smokers who want to quit had come to him for advice.

Some of them had even asked for aids to help them quit, such as nicotine gum and patches, which had only been provided under prescription. However, under the Drug Committee's new regulation of May 6, pharmacies can now sell nicotine gum and patches over the counter. The regulation will come into effect once it has been published in the Royal Gazette in June.

Mr Katha says the new regulation will make it easier for pharmacies to help smokers wanting to quit, as pharmacies are friendlier places and generally easier to visit than a clinic or hospital.

ASH secretary-general Prakit Vathisathokij brushed aside worries that smokers might get addicted to nicotine gum or patches. He said these products only released a tiny amount of nicotine. This was not enough to cause addiction, but was sufficient to help wean smokers away from their addiction. But he urged smokers not to place too much faith in such methods. Studies have shown only 6-7% of smokers who use nicotine patches successfully quit the habit. The most important factor, he said, was mental strength.

He said the Pharmacies' Network would try to expand the campaign to at least 1,000 pharmacies by the end of the year, and in the future they hope all 13,000 members will join. ''If a pharmacy can help at least one smoker to stop, think how much could be saved for the treatment of fatal diseases caused by smoking.''

--Bangkok Post 2005-05-29

[george]

Some good reasons to quit

Smokers who suffer from erectile dysfunction stand a chance of re-covery if they take the advice of the Public Health Ministry and quit smoking.

So says Public Health Minister Suchai Charoenratanakul, who quoted the results of a ministry study yesterday to advise smokers suffering from erectile dysfunction to kick their smoking habits and their sexual performance will be restored.

"Within three months, you will notice the effects," he said.

The study also found that, over a similar period without smoking, former smokers' lungs would begin working normally again.

The ministry study found that within 48 hours of stopping smok-ing, nicotine and carbon monoxide adhering to red blood cells would be discharged from a former smoker's body.

Within 72 hours, the former smokers would no longer smell of cigarettes and they would enjoy food much more because their tongue would have a restored sense of taste.

Suchai was speaking on a visit to a model "smart camp" in Ubon Ratchathani.

The camps, soon to be run by the Public Health Ministry throughout the country, target young smokers or young people prone to picking up the habit in the 12-25 age group.

According to a survey last year by the National Statistical Office, Thailand had 9.1 million smokers aged 11 years and older.

Nearly 2 million were younger than 24. The Northeast had 3.5 million smokers, the largest number of any region.

Suchai said his ministry planned to organise "smart camps" for young people in all provinces by August. Sixty young smokers or young people prone to smoking would be selected from each district to attend.

"The camps will make them aware of the dangers associated with smoking," Suchai said.

The Public Health minister hoped that camp participants would then help campaign against smoking in their communities. Between 200,000 and 300,000 young people became smokers every year.

--The Nation 2005-05-29

[Rinrada]

ban fags

[george]

NO TOBACCO DAY: Govt to fund cigarette researchers

New centre to find ways to help Thai smokers kick habit

BANGKOK: -- A research centre charged with tackling tobacco use will be established by the Public Health Ministry and the Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) with an initial budget of nearly Bt100 million.

Public Health Minister Suchai Charoenratanakul said Thailand’s progress in controlling cigarette smoking has been recognised around the world, but the country still lacks the knowledge to make effective tobacco control policies. He announced the plan yesterday on the eve of World No Tobacco Day.

There is also a lack of researchers and campaigners who focus on controlling tobacco abuse.

“One reason is we still lack a system of support for those people,” he said.

The new tobacco control research centre will not only involve the ministry and ThaiHealth, but also Mahidol University. Its initial budget of Bt96.8 million comes from ThaiHealth, which is funded by two per cent of all revenues from alcohol and tobacco taxes.

Further funds are expected to come from international health and tobacco-control organisations.

The centre is expected to scientifically analyse smoking problems and tobacco control measures. It will also examine social issues, like why it is harder for Thai smokers to quit than their counterparts in other countries.

Studies have shown that Thai cigarette smokers have a remarkably high awareness of the risks of smoking, are highly influenced by health warnings and try hard to quit, but they remain unsuccessful.

Mahidol rector Professor Pornchai Matangkasombut said new information from the centre would be injected into every level of education in the country.

A leading anti-smoking activist, Dr Prakit Vateesatokij, said controlling tobacco use in Thailand had been an increasingly difficult endeavour, and would only get harder.

“Research will help us catch up with continuous and rapid changes in the marketing strategies of the cigarette companies,” he said.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) this year’s World No Tobacco Day focuses on the roles, efficiency and influence of doctors and other health professionals in helping people quit smoking.

Health professionals are in an excellent position to take a prominent role in tobacco control, according to the WHO.

They reach a high percentage of the population andstudies have shown that even brief counselling by health professionals is one of the most cost-effective methods for reducing smoking.

--The Nation 2005-05-31