National

Building effective collaborations: Organizations working together in tobacco control
The American Legacy Foundation has released a new guide to foster collaboration between the many organizations and communities working on tobacco control projects. This resource describes elements of effective collaborations, outlines the importance and outcomes of collaborations, and provides examples of collaborations in action through case studies. This publication is the sixth in Legacy’s series of dissemination publications intended to broaden the discussion on collaboration and examine a variety of ways in which organizations can engage different partners and community members to implement a sustainable tobacco control and prevention program. Click here to download a PDF of the guide.

Arizona shows more than a 20% drop in smoking rates: 170,000 Arizonans quit smoking since 2007
Data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) showed that the prevalence of smoking among adults dropped from 19.8% to 15.7% from 2007 to 2008. This represents the largest drop in smoking in any state in the U.S. during the past year. The state has seen several changes since 2006 that may explain the rapid drop in the state’s smoking rate. The state cigarette tax increased in 2006, a smokefree law went into effect in 2007, and the Arizona Department of Health Services Bureau of Tobacco and Chronic Disease (ADHS BTCD) began implementing a strategic plan for tobacco control in 2008. In addition, ADHS BTCD promoted smoking cessation through a media campaign, worked with the state Medicaid program to begin providing nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to clients, and did a pilot program that provided free NRT. Click here to read a press release from the Tobacco Free Arizona website.

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International

Health warnings on tobacco products--worldwide, 2007
Data from 176 World Health Organization (WHO) member states indicates that the majority of countries, 56%, are requiring cigarette packaging to include health warnings about the risks of tobacco use. Fewer countries, only 9%, required pictorial health warnings. Lower-income countries were less likely to require health warnings than the high-income countries. Requiring health warnings has been shown to be a cost-effective approach to raise awareness of the risks of tobacco use, increase cessation rates, and discourage the uptake of tobacco use. Larger warnings and those that combine pictures and text are most effective. Placing health warnings on tobacco packaging was one of the key evidence-based interventions included in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) that came into force in 2005. Click here to read the full article in MMWR.

31.3 percent of adult Turks smoke, study
The 2008 Global Adult Tobacco Survey revealed that nearly a third of Turkish adults age 15 and over are occasional or every day smokers. Smoking is much more common among males, with 47.9% of males and 15.2% of females being smokers. While nearly all (94.5%) smokers indicated that they were aware of the warnings printed on cigarette packaging, only 27.8% plan to quit smoking within the upcoming year. Forty-two percent of smokers indicated that they have not considered quitting at all. Read more here.

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